Intrusion: Our Story
by CartoonerElle
Summary: People from the past run back into the neighbourhood we all know as Woodcrest. Ming emigrates to the neighbourhood while Cindy's cousin also jumps into the picture. Can these two make or break the lives of our favourite people? Characters unmentioned: M. Caesar , H. Otomo , M. Long-dou and OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Keeping Cool

CRASH!

Huey always knew that his household was passive when it came to dishes, but he was not expecting this rude awakening at six o'clock in the morning. Since he is going to school, he decided to take this chance and rise for his morning routine.

While he was making his bed, there was another crash coming from the kitchen. "Grandad! Is that you?" Huey asked in annoyance. It had to be his grandfather because there was no possible way it was his brother. Riley only wakes up when Huey tells him to.

"Huey! Get your ass down here! Boy, I don't understand why everything is so slippery this morning!" Grandad exclaimed from downstairs.

Huey sighed, "I'm coming."

"And hurry up! I ain't got time to mess around!" Grandad exclaimed sternly.

As Huey started walking towards the staircase, he banged five times on Riley's bedroom door. Since the boys got older, Grandad decided that it was better for them to have their privacy. Therefore, Huey moved into the guest bedroom.

"Ugh, a'ight! I'm up! Damn…" Riley fumed in an irritated manner.

"Take your time it's only six o'clock" Huey explained.

"Is Grandad breakin' shit again?" Riley asked exasperated.

"Yes" Huey answered with the same exasperation as his brother.

"Wake me up in another fifteen minutes" Riley commanded.

"No"

"Nigga it's six o'clock!"

"Then you should start getting ready. Yet, like I said, take your time" Huey commanded sternly. As much as Huey and Riley have one of the most fascinating relationships, they somehow always have each other's backs. However, they would never admit this to themselves or to each other.

After helping Grandad clean up his mess, Huey went upstairs and started to prep himself for school. His final outfit consisted of a pair of predominantly white All Stars, denim jeans and a plain grey t-shirt.

When walking out of his bedroom, he met with his brother. Riley was wearing classic Timberlands, black torn denim jeans, a Chicago Bears basketball shirt with a matching snapback. The brothers looked at each other and gave each other a nod of approval. Huey approving Riley's outfit and vice versa. Even though these two brothers have completely different sources of interest and clothing, they somehow always make sure one brother fits his role.

When the family was done having the breakfast that Grandad had prepared (which explains all of the noise he had made), they exited the household and retreated to Dorothy. Huey is seventeen years old and therefore has a driver's license. Riley still has a year to go before he can apply, because he is fifteen. Huey was about to honk the horn until Jazmine was already out of her door.

As Jazmine walked over to Dorothy she waved goodbye to her parents. She was wearing a white tank top with a floral dress shirt over it, white skinny jeans that were rolled up to her ankles and badge ankle boots. Her beautiful strawberry blonde locks were down today and they shaped her heart shaped face perfectly.

"Good morning", Jazmine chimed as she entered the car.

"Hey", the Freeman boys replied in unionism. As they turned out onto the road, Huey switched on the radio and started playing his tunes. As they drove to school, Riley started nodding his head to the familiar tune.

"I like em brown, yellow, Puero Rican or Hatian  
Name is Phife Dawg from the Zulu Nation  
told you in the jam that We Can Get Down" Riley rapped to his brother waving his hands around throwing gang sides around. Huey glanced sideways at him for a second and then focused on the road again. Riley laughed, "Damn nigga! I haven't heard this one in a while! It's been a minute!"

"What's the name of the song?" Jazmine asked intrigued by their conversation.

"None of yo' damn business Mariah Carey!" Riley yelled.

"I told you stop calling me that" Jazmine stated sternly, clearly irratated.

Riley gave him her a grin and a side glance as well.

"Electric Relaxation by A Tribe Called Quest" Huey answered for Jazmine because he knew that Riley was going to start something we could not finish. Jazmine smiled and nodded in appreciation. Riley just furrowed his eyebrows and frowned at his brother. Before, Riley could argue with his brother, Huey parked Dorothy and started getting out of the car.

As everyone was closing the doors to Dorothy, they met with Hiro "What it do?" Hiro shouted in a ghetto matter while smiling. Hiro was wearing black and grey Airmax sneakers, grey drop crotch pants and a red hoodie that wrote 'Kawaii in the Streets, Senpai in the Sheets'. Jazmine greeted her friend and hugged him. Hiro gave the Freemans dap and they all walked into the dreaded building they called Woodcrest High.

As the four friends walked down the hallway, they were approaching Cindy and Caesar. Cindy wore baggy denim jeans, black All Stars, a hugging white animated t-shirt that wrote '#Muse' in black and her hair in her signature platted pigtails. Caesar wore classic Chucks, army camo pants and a navy long sleeve top with his dreads down. Cindy was leaning against her locker with her arms crossed over her chest chatting to Caesar who was standing in front of her and had one of his hands leaning against her locker as well.

Riley frowned at this. Ever since they had started dating, he became more aggravated than normal. He knew the proper reason for his aggravation was the jealousy he actually felt. Riley has had feelings for Cindy since he was ten. If only Huey would come to terms with his feelings for Jazmine. The sad part is that he still doesn't know himself.

"Aayyy what's good!" Cindy shouted out to her friends when she realized they were coming their way.

"Ay yo' ma what dat mouth do!" Riley exclaimed back with a huge grin on his face starting to laugh. Hiro joined in with Riley due to his response. The next thing they know Cindy is confidently showing off her middle finger to the two boys while chuckling herself. The boys laughed a level louder due to her reaction. Huey shook his head at his brother and friend while Jazmine just smiled.

"Reezy you's a bitch you know that?" Cindy asked still smiling.

"Naaaah Reezy's a real nigga!" Riley retorted as he was still smiling himself. Cindy chuckled a little more and opened up her arms for a hug as he began to approach her more. This ended with Cindy being swung around in a bear hug from her longtime friend.

"You good?" She asked.

"You know it girl" he answered as he put her down. Riley went to give Caesar dap while Cindy was being hugged from Hiro and Jazmine.

After all the greetings, the squad made small conversation before the first bell went. "Jazmine" was all Huey said before they headed off to Geometry together. This left the remains of the group to give a sly smile to the duo without them looking.

"So how are you?" Jazmine asked while they walked.

"Fine" Huey answered.

Jazmine nodded, "Cool, so how was summer? Any jobs?"

"The same."

"Promotion?"

"Yes."

Jazmine gasps, "Huey that's amazing I knew you'd get it!" Jazmine hugged Huey unexpectedly.

"Jazmine, let go." He commanded. She obeyed.

"I just knew they'd promote you! The Bushido Brown Dojo would be nothing without you!"

Huey just nodded. This was his manner to say thank you to Jazmine, and she knew it. She just gave him a bright smile in return as she fanned past him into their Geometry Class.

 _Strawberry, like her hair_ , Huey thought when he caught a wiff of Jazmine's perfume as she entered their class.

 **After school hours…**

"No" Huey stated.

"Oh c'mon Huey" Cindy begged.

"I said no."

"I'll pay you interest for your gas money! Just stop being a bitch for once in your life!" Cindy said irritated.

Cindy has told the squad that they should all hang out by her house today so they could have lunch, do homework and catch up from summer holiday. However, Huey was being a hard shell as always because they would all need lifts to and from Cindy's house.

"DuBois, convince this bitch" Cindy ordered.

"What on earth am I supposed to do?" Jazmine asked now annoyed as well.

"Find that nigga's weak spots or some shit! Just make sure his ass loosens up! I'll be back in five with an answer" Cindy commanded sternly.

Jazmine rolled her eyes and walked over to her longtime friend. "Jazmine I already said no. Therefore you cannot do anything." Huey stated.

Jazmine sighed, "No dumb questions, no white indoctrination music, unlimited free meals for a week, and…"

Huey raised his eyebrow in anticipation, "And?"

Jazmine closed her eyes, "One free favour".

Huey raised his eyebrows slightly, but then furrowed them back to normal. "You better keep your word DuBois." Huey stated.

Jazmine sighed and nodded her head.

"Everyone in the car, now." Huey said to his approaching friends.

"YES!" Cindy shouted in victory.

It was just coincidental that the song that they listened to on their way to school was being played again at random in the car on their way to Cindy's. "Relax yourself girl, please set-tle down" Caesar, Hiro, Riley and Cindy rapped to the chorus as they were making a left turn into Woodcrest Estates.

Cindy pressed the access key to her gate since Huey was now in the driveway. As Huey drove into her lot, Cindy stopped rapping for a moment as she realized something unfamiliar about her yard. There was a red BMW in her driveway that caught her attention. She frowned in confusion as everyone got out of Dorothy.

"Cindy, I could be wrong, but has any of your parents ever had a red Beemer?" Jazmine asked also puzzled by the vehicle.

"I was asking myself the same thing" Cindy replied.

It was only the girls that took note of the car. They were in front of everyone else on their way to the front door. She forgot her keys at home and therefore knocked on her front door. When the door opened, Cindy's eyes had popped out of their sockets as she realised who was in front of her.

"Hey Cindy, it's been too long cousin" the girl said smiling showing all her pearly white teeth.

The next thing everyone knew, Cindy was jumping and squealing at the top of her lungs with excitement and happiness. This made everyone jump a bit as well, because Cindy McPhearson barely does that in front of her friends.

"SKYLAR! OOOOH SHIT! SKYLAR! OH MY GOSH, SKYLAR!" she screamed as she leaped into her cousin's arms.

"Cindy you're heavy, damn" Skylar choke out as she had winded from her cousin.

"Goddamn…" Hiro muttered staring Skylar down.

Caesar punched him in the arm so he could come to his senses. As Hiro came back to earth, he just smiled trying to hide the fact that he was staring down his friend's cousin.

"Giiiiiiirl! What's been happening cuz? It's been a minute!" Cindy exclaimed to her cousin.

Skylar Emilia McPhearson was one of Cindy Diana McPhearson's closest cousins. Cindy's father, Marcus McPhearson had two brothers and a sister. Their names were Ezra McPhearson, Quinton McPhearson and Francesca McPhearson. Quinton was the oldest following Marcus, Ezra and then Francesca. Quinton had three girls, Skylar being the first and the twins Veronica and Victoria being the last.

"Yeah mos def girl. How about you bring you and your friends inside first?" Skylar initiated trying to give attention to the people behind her cousin.

"Thank you!" Riley exclaimed pushing past everyone into the house. The group laughed (except for Huey of course) as they all entered the McPhearson household.

The friends had just finished off their homework while Skylar was already getting a head start with lunch while Hiro and Caesar were working the stereo so they could get the music started. "So, are you finally going to tell a bitch why I found you in my house?" Cindy asked smugly approaching the kitchen where she was going to assist Skylar.

"You still such a bitch" Skylar joked while she was checking the ribs in the oven.

"And you still ain't telling me why you're here!" Cindy fought back with a chuckle.

"Okay, okay! Some mad stuff happening at school back home in Wisconsin. Some crazy environmental stuff like unknown potholes, sinking soil and stuff. They told us to find a substitute school in our standard until that stuff gets sorted. In other words, we're going to be graduating together" Skylar said with a smile.

Cindy squealed once again and hugged her cousin almost choking her once more. "That's pretty sick Sky! I mean, sorry about your school, but damn! I'm glad that we'll be hanging together more often now" Cindy chuffed.

"Cindy, you make so much noise" Jazmine said joining the family in the kitchen after finishing off her homework.

"Yeah whatever" Cindy said laughing and pushing Jazmine slightly. "Anyways, I didn't introduce you to the fam properly. Jazz, this is Skylar, but I call her Sky."

"Hey" Jazmine said and smiled.

"Hey" Skylar said and smiled in return.

"You're really pretty" Jazmine said taking in Skylar's beautiful features. Skylar was the same skin tone as Cindy, but was slightly shorter than her. There was nothing really different about the two except for the fact that Skylar's eyes are hazel and her hair is golder and wavy. Skylar wore khaki pants, maroon Nike Suede shoes and a loose black tank top with her hair loose.

"Gee thanks" Skylar responded completely flattered and smiling brightly, "Like wise."

"Pssshht girl I'm the cute one in this house!" Riley exclaimed as he bombarded everyone with his presence. Skylar laughed at this. Riley turned to her. "What? Are you telling me that this face don't make yo' legs quiver?" Riley asked with a sly smile.

"Riley, don't scare her. She's only known you for roughly an hour." Huey stated flatly.

The girls burst out laughing at this. This makes Riley give everyone a scrowl. "Riley chill out man" Skylar laughed out loud as she just shook her head at her new acquaintance.

"Oh so you do think I'm fresh?" Riley asked.

"I never said that, and don't expect me to either" Skylar concluded and checked on the fries.

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHH!" Hiro and Caesar roared out as they started rolling on the floor with laughter. Caesar was tearing up and he did not hold back. Hiro was busy banging on the floor while laughing as hysterically as Caesar. This ended up with Huey leaving the room and going outside onto the patio.

"Damn girl! Slow down!" Riley argued feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Riley, relax it was a joke" Jazmine said.

"No one asked you Mariah Carey!" Riley spat back.

"Ey! Sit yo' ass down Snoop Dogg!" Cindy yelled in defence.

"Woof." Skylar barked.

The next thing they knew, Hiro and Caesar were stumbling outside before they roared in a second fit of laughter. This caused Huey to return inside, but walk to Cindy's study.

After the insane fits of laughter and getting to know Skylar, lunch had been served. Jazmine however went back inside and made a veggie sandwich. When she was done, she took her plate and the sandwich to the study.

"May I come in?" Jazmine asked.

"It seems like you've already let yourself in" Huey retorted while his eyes were still stuck to the book he was reading. This just made Jazmine roll her eyes and close the door. She placed the plates on the desk and brought a chair not too far from Huey. Huey finally let his eyes leave his book as he looked at the sandwhich infront of him. Jazmine just smiled at this reaction.

"I did say unlimited meals for a week" Jazmine informed him.

Huey nodded and she just smiled as she dived into her ribs and chips. When they were done, they exited the study room and went to wash the dishes while everyone was still.

After a lot of conversation and music, by 17:05 everyone was ready to leave. Everyone said their farewells to the McPhearsons and drove off. Huey dropped off Caesar and was making his way to drop off Hiro as well.

"Ey, thanks man" Hiro said with appreciation as he gave Huey dap. Just before Hiro was about to exit Dorothy, his front door flew open.

"HIIIIROOOOOOOO!" A girl screamed.

Everyone froze except for Hiro as he covered his face with despair. "Ahhhhh shiiit!" Hiro exclaimed.

"HIRO KYOYA OTOMO!" she screamed even louder.

"Ming! Shut the hell up! I'm coming!" He spat back.

"It's 17:54! Anata wa okurete imasu!" she spat back as well!

"I know I'm late! Shikashi, anata wa koko de nanishiteruno?"

"Ie ni hairimasu!"

"Okaaayy!" Hiro exclaimed. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Don't ask."

However, Huey did not need to ask. This is because he already knew who she was.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Confusion

After dropping off Hiro and Jazmine, Huey had a hard time sleeping. He could not believe that Ming was back, but how come Hiro never told him that she was an Otomo? "This is going to be a long day…" Huey stated exasperated. The last time Huey saw Ming she was being wheeled into an ambulance van.

Huey wore a black long sleeve top, khaki pants and brown army boots with his everyday signature afro.

 **At School …**

"Ey wassup brother?" Caesar asked while Huey was busy changing his books for his next subject. Caesar wore red jeans, his 'Mos Def' t-shirt and black Chuck Taylors with his dreads down.

"Nothing. What about you man?" Huey asked his best friend.

"I'm cool, but I can see you're not" Caesar pointed out.

Huey froze for a millisecond but then continued his task at hand. "May we talk about this later? I got Chemistry right now. We'll talk in African History."

"I'm down. Just don't lie to a nigga" Caesar said as he gave Huey dap before they departed. They were only people in their squad that was in the hallway currently because everyone else rushed to their classes early due to assignment tasks being handed out.

As Huey was walking down the hall to his class, the door in front of him flew open. He stepped back quickly and easily. He was ready to stare down the person that flung the door open. However, that would be slightly uncomfortable, because it was Ming.

"Gomen'nasai! I didn't mean to-"Ming stuttered as she realized she nearly gave someone a bloody nose. Yet, she cut herself short as she looked at the person in front of her.

Ming at first was a bit confused when she looked at Huey, because it hadn't come to her attention who she was looking at. After some time, her eyes widened and then shrunk slightly as she came to terms that Huey Percival Freeman was in front of her. They looked at each other for a while. Ming's dark shiny blue eyes looked into Huey's maroon ones.

"Hello Ming." Huey said.

"H-Huey Freeman" she stated a bit bewildered.

Ming Ayame Etsu Long-dou was part of the legendary Otomo and Long-dou Clan. Mai and Hikaru Otomo had four children. Their four children consisted of Mitsue, Kaminari, Natsuko and Kazumi. Kazumi met a beautiful American woman named Mirannda and had Hiro. Hiro was born and raised in Japan with his parents.

However, Natsuko who is Kazumi's older sister while working abroad in China met the love of her life, Huan Long-dou. They got married and had a baby girl, who is Ming. Huan's parents were extremely strict and made Natsuko fully emigrate to China to live with their family. This is why Ming's second and third name are Japanese: To keep the history of the Otomos in her name.

This also ended up with occasional visits to Japan where Ming learned her mother's tongue. Ming learned a lot from her cousin Hiro; like the cultures of Japan and life lessons as well. As they grew up, they became distant due to Huan's father forcing her to learn kickball, which she was surprisingly gifted at. Before Hiro and Ming could have moulded back what they had together, Hiro had emigrated to America at the age of nine with his parents.

"Ming, I am going to be late for class. Bye." Huey said flatly as he swift passed Ming walking to class. Ming did not move. Instead, she watched Huey shuffle quickly into his classroom.

 **In African History Class …**

"Ready to tell a hommie wassup with a brother?" Caesar asked a bit impatient.

"It's Hiro's damn cousin" Huey answered bluntly.

"Who? Makie? The hot one who came to visit from Japan last year?" Caesar asked puzzled.

"No dumbass, Ming."

"Ming? I ain't never heard of no Ming in Hiro's fam. I only know about a girl named Ming who you played kickball with you when you were a kid…" Caesar was explaining until he caught on when Huey gave him that knowing look. "Ooooooooohh! … Oh, Oh, Oh snap! Wait what?! Hiro's related to that girl? What the hell? Since when?" Caesar rambled trying to get his head wrapped around things.

"I wondered all of this last night myself. I'm shocked that he never told us." Huey admitted.

"Well I haven't seen or met her yet." Caesar pointed out.

"You'll find out soon enough" Huey warned his friend.

 **At lunch …**

Huey and Caesar were busy finding their table in the caferteria, until Caesar's girlfriend made it easy by calling him out. "Ey yo! Caesar! Over here babe! You too Mufasa!" Cindy shouted to the friends.

By the time they reached the table, Huey seemed irritated by what Cindy said and therefore scoulded her. "Don't call me that" he said sternly.

"Chill out Simba I was joking" Cindy chuckled.

"Cindy watch yourself" Huey warned her.

"Yeah yeah" she said just before she kissed Caesar on the cheek and took a bit of her sandwich. She was wearing her black bennie over her platted pigtails, a vibrant blue hoodie, black skinny jeans and red Vans.

"Yoooooo what it do, what it dooo?" Riley shouted approaching their cafeteria table with Jazmine. Riley wore dark green drop-crotch pants, white Airforce Jordans and a palm tree forest themed wifebeater. Jazmine wore classic three quarter capris jeans with a purple oversized boyfriend sweater that goes off her shoulder showing her black tank top underneath. She also wore navy blue Vans and her hair was tied up in a bushy high pony that showed off her golden hoop rings.

"Ey wassup yal?" Cindy and Caesar greeted back in unionism.

Huey quickly took a sip of his water before asking his brother and neighbour where Hiro was.

"He at the principal's office finalising some transfers with that Chinese wolf bitch of a cousin of his." Riley answered sitting down next to Jazmine who was sitting next to Huey.

Huey choked on his water while Caesar tried to seek fascination with his food. "Did you say transfer?" Huey asked clearing his lungs from the accidental intake of some water into them.

"Ugh, yeah. That what he told me though" Riley answered once more.

Jazmine patted Huey's back a bit and took out his lunch that she prepared for him. It had an apple, banana, almonds and a homemade veggie burger. "Thanks" Huey thanked Jazmine. This made her smile.

"You're welcome" she said before she took out her own lunch. It is not every day where Huey Freeman casually says thank you in front of people, so that made her feel special.

"Suuup" Skylar greeted as she approached the table and sat next to Cindy. She wore her wavy honey coloured hair down again today with a black and grey Taylor Gang snapback worn backwards on top of it. She also wore a slightly oversized black football jersey with the number 98 on it, a maroon flowy skirt and camo themed combat boots.

"Damn girl! You look hood!" Riley complimented generally.

"Thanks" she said with a smile.

"You look like you grew up in Brooklyn girl!" Caesar asked a bit stunned.

"The Bronx, actually" Skylar replied with simplicity. The entire table went silent, staring at her as if she came from Saturn.

"How the fuck is you from The Bronx but you still so behaved?!" Riley asked totally stunned.

"Ugh, well I was born in Madison, Wisconsin and moved to The Bronx at thirteen. I guess my manners never really changed-"

"Until you get the bitch angry" Cindy cut her off just before taking a sip of her Dr Pepper.

"That ain't true!" Skylar said getting a bit defensive as well as her accent coming out a bit.

"Psssht, either way, Brooklyn still holding the trophy! BROOOOOKLYYYYYN! BROOKLYYYN! WHAT! WHAT!" Caesar exclaimed getting himself hyped up.

"Whatever man" Skylar said as she rolled her eyes with a smile and chuckled. Everyone laughed and started average conversation up until Hiro and Ming arrived. "Who the girl Hiro with?" Skylar asked.

"That his cousin, we were talking about it before you came" Cindy explained. Skylar nodded as she saw them coming to the table. Hiro wore one of his classic green tracksuits and white Nike airs. Ming wore indigo jeggings, an unbuttoned orange dress shirt showing off her white tank underneath, galaxy themed hi-top All Stars and her hair down.

"What's good?" Hiro asked as he approached his friends with his cousin beside him. By the time he approached the table, everyone was silent.

"Hiro, are you fo'real?" Cindy asked her friend while glaring at his cousin.

"Girl what you talking about?" he asked confused.

"This bitch is your cousin?" she asked now getting angry.

"Baby cool it" Caesar said trying to calm his girlfriend down.

"Cindy woah girl, what the hell?" Hiro asked a bit surprised at how she approached Ming.

"That bitch gave me a black eye and a sprained ankle!" Cindy yelled.

"That was just under ten years ago blondy" Ming said calmly.

"Bitch what you call me?" Cindy asked rising from her chair making some people turn to their table.

"Sit down. If you don't stop now Cindy…" Huey tried to convince Cindy.

"Huey shut up!" Cindy spat back. "This bitch needs to get her act together. She can't just rock up here thinking she bad. I'll bust a cap in her ass!" She started glaring at Ming up and down intimidatley.

"Blondy, listen to your friends. They could help you from avoiding another black eye" Ming said smirking.

"Ming!" Hiro yelled.

"Bitch are you threatening me?!" Cindy yelled now getting super pissed. At Ming's threat, Skylar stood up as well.

"Hey! I don't know who you are, but you better watch yourself" Skylar said now standing up for her cousin.

"What is this? Legally Blonde? There's two of you?" Ming asked chuckling.

"EY! WATCH YOURSELF!" Skylar yelled, now letting her Bronx accent cut loose.

"Ey yo' ladies calm down!" Caesar said trying to be the good guy in this situation. This all made Riley snicker as he pressed play on his cellphone. Jazmine was busy sipping her Sprite ignoring this uncomfortable situation all together.

"Anata no yūjin wa orokadesu!" Ming complained to Hiro.

"Ming!" Hiro shouted. By this time, the entire cafeteria was looking at their table.

"Jibun o mite" Huey warned her. At this point Ming whipped her head towards Huey. Ming knew he understood and spoke Chinese, but she never knew he understood Japanese as well. "Anata no saisho no hi ni teki o tsukurimasen."

"Huey, damnit speak English!" Cindy yelled.

"You know what, I'll chat to you guys later. I just wanted to introduce yal to Ming, but there's something here I don't know." Hiro said as he turned around picking Ming to follow her.

 **After School…**

"Ming what the hell? Is there something I don't know? This is because my crew doesn't just give straight up beef to just anybody" Hiro said.

"Maybe you don't know your friends so well" Ming tried to retort.

"Ming, don't get me angry. I haven't seen you in a while. Do not let me get angry at you when you've been here for less than a day. You know I love you and got your back, but you gotta tell me stuff for it to strengthen."

Ming sighed. "You see how Sofu (grandfather) always made me do kickball tournaments back in the day?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever wondered why I stopped?"

"Not really. I just thought you finally told Sofu you didn't wanna do it" Hiro said still trying to find the pieces.

"Well…" Ming said as she gave her cousin the tale of the Red Ball incident. At the end of the story Hiro was laughing so hard he started tearing up.

"Okay, well you gotta stop acting like you tough Ming. You might be strong, but not against a squad of five." Hiro chuckled.

"So what now?" she asked.

"Before we go home, you gotta apologise to the squad."

"Hiro c'mon!" Ming whined.

"Ey Riley!" Hiro called out.

"It's Reezy nigga!" he shouted from the parking lot.

"Where's the rest the gang?"

"They're about to head out. I'm out here scouting for my next hit" Riley said checking out girls.

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Yeah well someone wants to apologize." Riley looked at Ming and clicked his tongue against his pallet at her and looked away. Hiro chuckled at this encounter.

"A'ight, well she can prepare herself because here they come" he said as he pointed to the crew.

Ming sighed. _This is gonna be a long day…_ she thought.

"Hiro, why is your punk ass cousin still here? Did she not learn already that she does not get on the McPhearson's bad side?" Cindy said getting angry just looking at Ming.

"Cindy, chill! She's here to say something" Hiro said turning to Ming.

"What's that?" Cindy said walking closer to Ming so that if she tries anything funny she can get a quick wack to her pretty face.

"Listen, I'm sorry I ganged up on you. I'm sorry I tried to start something that I was not gonna finish," she said while giving Huey a quick glance (That's what Huey said to her in Japanese previously).

"And?" Cindy and Skylar said in unionism.

"I'm sorry I called you guys Blondies" Ming apologised.

This made the McPhearsons smile a bit. "Hey, it's alright. Just don't start that trash again" Skylar said honestly. Cindy nodded with her arms crossed smiling a bit.

"I'm guessing you told Hiro why we got beef?" Cindy asked.

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, I gotta say, yal are more buck than I thought" he said with a smile giving Cindy, Riley and Huey dap.

"Finally!" Jazmine said totally exhausted from this entire situation. This made everyone laugh. "So, I would like to get home. I got things I gotta do."

At this point everyone was parting going to their cars and departing.

 **At the DuBois…**

Jazmine waved Huey and Riley goodbye as she entered her house. She huffed while closing the door. She was completely exhausted from this day. She doesn't like fighting one ounce.

"Welcome home sweetie" Sarah said to her daughter.

"Hey mom" forcing a smile. However, Sarah could see that there was something wrong with her daughter.

"Okay, what is it?" Sarah said getting out of the kitchen walking to the living room. Jazmine walked to the living room as well hinting at her mother's actions.

"School" Jazmine said.

"And?" Sarah asked.

"Dancing and Singing"

"…And?"

"…" Jazmine sighed, "Huey."

"Theeere we go" Sarah said with a smile. "So what is it?"

"He's just being … Huey" Jazmine answered.

"Yeaaahh … that can happen" Sarah said. "Any events that have been occurring that could have triggered his attitude?"

"Well, this Ming girl showed up today and he's been strange ever since. He glances at her and everything. He's known her ever since that kickball match where dad got his butt kicked. It just makes me more insecure than what I already am" Jazmine said fiddling with her fingers.

"Agh honey, listen, don't look at her as a threat. You're talking about the girl that got hospitalized after Huey's fireball?"

"Yeah. She's really pretty mom."

"So are you Jazz. Sweetheart, you're smart, talented and important. If he doesn't know this now, then he'll never understand your value." Sarah said while rubbing Jazmine's arm and kissing her temple.

Jazmine nodded. "Yeah okay … Thanks mom" she said with a smile before giving her a big hug. After their mother-daughter chat, Jazmine went up into her bedroom to quickly do her homework.

After she was done with her homework, Jazmine got dressed in her gym outfit so she could go for a nice late afternoon jog. She kissed her mom goodbye before heading out the door. She wore black shorts, neon orange and pink Nikes and a pink sweatshirt. She had her earphones in as she jogged the neighbourhood called Woodcrest.

Jazmine was so deep in her thoughts that she was jogging for a long duration of time without getting a breather. This lead to her not being alert about her surroundings as well. Next thing she knew, she had bumped into a person. "Ah! I'm so sorry!" she said snapping out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Huey looking down at her.

"Jazmine, seriously?" Huey asked sounding annoyed.

"I said I'm sorry for bumping into you" she explained.

"Not that Jazmine. It's 17:19 and you're jogging by yourself? Who knows what could have happened to you! The white government won't do anything to help you. You know why?" Huey asked a level more annoyed.

"Because the white people only care about themselves." Jazmine answered. Being friends with Huey Freeman all your life, you have to know your answers.

"Exactly. Now come on, your jog is over" He said sternly as he grabbed her arm and started walking her back home.

It took Jazmine some time to realise that the reason Huey was fuming at her was because he was worried. Huey Percival Freeman was worried about Jazmine Elizabeth DuBois' safety. This made her smile and blush slightly. When they finally reached their destination, Huey pulled her to his house instead.

"Ugh, Huey-"

"Shut up" he said as he continued pulling her.

"Huey! About time you came home! Start making dinner I'm getting peckish!" Grandad yelled.

"Yes Grandad" Huey said finally letting go of Jazmine's arm.

"Evening Mr Freeman" Jazmine said brightly.

"Hey little baby!" Grandad said turning to Jazmine from his armchair. "What you doing here so late? Is it Huey being a punk?"

Jazmine giggled, "No, Mr Freeman" she answered.

"Sup Mariah!" Riley said coming down the stairs chewing an apple.

"Riley-" Jazmine said about to argue.

"Chill! I'm just messing with you" Riley said chuckling, approaching her and giving a kiss on her temple. "You good Jazz?" he asked Jazmine with a genuine smile.

Jazmine rolled her eyes and started smiling. "Yeah I'm okay."

Huey knew that Jazmine was practically Riley's big sister, but he doesn't like the 'brotherly' kisses he gives her. He remembers once for Jazmine's birthday, Riley drew her a really nice drawing of her as well as a pair of earphones. She thanked him by giving the biggest hug she could master and a kiss on his cheek. After that, they happened occasionally. Riley would never show his soft side to people, because he's 'too gangster' for those kind of things.

"So how are you handling Caesar and Cindy?" she asked her closest friends.

"Man, lets not even go there. I'm still tryna let it sink in" Riley said looking down. Jazmine nodded and immediately changed the topic to something else.

"Jazmine! Come here" Huey ordered. This made her jump and run to the kitchen. Riley snickered in the process.

"Ugh, yeah?" she asked still a bit startled.

"Take out the pasta" he ordered. Jazmine just stood there and began to fold her arms over her chest. Huey looked at her and then rolled his eyes. "Please?" Jazmine smiled and nodded before she went and did her task.

This ended with them cooking a very well-cooked dinner for the Freeman household. They had Penne Alfredo with a specially made ice tea from Jazmine. It had watermelon with squeezed oranges all in crushed ice.

"Thanks for the meal everyone!" Jazmine said as she finished getting Tupperware contained meals for her parents.

"Oh no cutie pie! Thank you for making it!" Grandad said as she was heading towards the door.

"See you all tomorrow!" she said as she exited their residence.

When Jazmine entered her home, she was bombarded by her father. "Jazmine! Where have you been! Ive been worried sick!" Tom exclaimed.

"Tom I already told you that she went for a jog and then went to Huey's" Sarah said flatly.

"But still! Huey never knew you went jogging! Is he stalking you? I knew there was something off with that boy!" Tom rambled.

"Dad, I went jogging and I bumped into Huey. He was on his way home from work." Jazmine explained clearly uninterested from her father's rambles.

"Oh, ugh, okay honey! Daddy still loves you" Tom said giving his daughter a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you too Dad" she said chuckling at her father's foolishness.

"Okay I'm heading upstairs. Here's some food Huey and I cooked. I made extra just for you guys" She said as she placed it down on the counter, still warm.

Jazmine headed upstairs and got in the shower. When she was done, she got dress in her JT One pajama set and sat on her bed as she relaxed. Sarah must be a physcic because she knocked and entered her room at the perfect time.

"Sooo…" Sarah said with a sly smile.

"Shut up" Jazmine said before chuckling.

"I told you he doesn't like that Ming girl!" she said in a victorious manner. Sarah sat down next to Jazmine on her bed and kissed her temple again.

It was 20:45 when Jazmine and Sarah had started chatting. It was currently 21:16 as they finished off their deep conversation. They said their goodnights and Sarah switched off her bedroom light for her like she was still ten. Jasmine went to bed that night with a lighter heart and a soon brighter morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: After Hours

It has been a week since school reopened from summer holidays. Caesar had just finished off getting dressed and began cleaning his room. Caesar wore a Bob Marley themed t-shirt with a grey unzipped hoodie, torn black denim jeans, navy and red pirate replica Addidas shoes with his hair tied back in a basic pony tail. He packed his fitness bag with his football clothes and quickly went downstairs.

"Hey Ceez" Anika said.

"Hey baby girl" Caesar said as he kissed his little sister on the cheek. Anika turned seven during the summer.

"What are you doing today?" she asked sweetly.

"I have football after school today. What about you?"

"Nothing. Today will be boring like most days" she said exhaling.

Caesar laughed at this and starting taking out his cereal. After he was done eating and put his and his sister's dishes in the sink, he headed for the door. He was cut off real quick when he heard his mother.

"Michael?" she called out.

"Yeah?" Caesar responded.

"Tell Cynthia I say hi!" she teased.

"Yeah! Tell Cindy I say hi too!" Anika teased as well.

Caesar chuckled at his family and walked out the door. Around July, Cindy and Caesar started hanging out more. Since Riley and Huey went to go visit their Aunt Cookie in Chicago, Hiro going to Japan to visit his family and Jazmine going on a cruise with her parents, Cindy and Caesar were the only people really around. After some time they started catching feelings. The next thing they know, they're holding hands at school.

However, after returning back to school, he felt that Cindy was becoming a little distant. He blamed it on school and her cousin. Therefore he didn't take it to heart and just went with the flow.

Caesar jumped into his Jeep and drove to Cindy's to pick her and Skylar up. When Cindy entered the passanger seat, she gave Caesar a big kiss and greeted him. Skylar entered the back and gave Caesar dap. It's strange how a sweet and calm girl like Skylar could get ghetto within a couple of seconds if you drive her to that point. You could clearly tell that Skylar and Cindy are related when that occurs.

"Soccer?" Cindy asked looking at his gym bag at the back of his car.

"Yeah. Basketball?" He asked after answering her question after seeing the extra bag by her feet. Cindy nodded and took out her phone. "So what sports are you going to enroll in Sky?" he asked.

"Soccer" she said casually.

"Ah fo'real? You're a footy?" he asked happy and surprised. "I was expecting you to be a baller like your cousin" he said.

"I knew you were going to say that" Skylar said as she chuckled. "We're not that similar actually, trust."

Caesar nodded and everyone made conversation as they were on their way to Woodcrest High. Cindy wore an oversized basketball looking jersey. It had lime green, yellow and sky blue dashed around. Since it went over her butt, she wore plain black leggings, bright red Tomys and her hair in a neat slicked back ponytail. She wore diamond studs today.

Skylar wore a carmine long sleeve jersey that wrote 'Wisconsin Est. 1848' in white at the back and 'Wisconsin Badgers' in the front. She also wore galaxy themed leggings, white Uggs and her hair up in a high bun. She wore heart shapped earrings in her first hole and small dimanté earrings in her second hole.

As they reached school, they exited Caesar's car. As they started walking to the main entrance, Caesar put his arm around Cindy's shoulders.

"Mom and Anika say hi by the way" he said as he kissed her temple.

Cindy laughed at this, "That's so sweet! I'll most likely come hang this weekend" she said kissing Caesar's hand.

School ended slightly earlier today due to extracurricular activities beginning. This was done so kids have time to change and look at rosters for their activities. Huey didn't have anything sporty because he does Martial Arts outside of school and mastered it at a young age. Jazmine had Dancing today while Cindy and Riley had Basketball. Caesar and Skylar had Soccer together.

Huey went to a secluded part of school where no sports were occurring. He was busy reading a good book by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie entitled Purple Hibiscus. He wore a black t-shirt with his famous army jacket over it. He also wore faded grey tapered jeans and Timbalands.

He was minding his own business until he sensed someone coming in his direction. He looked up to see Ming. She wore a plain white t-shirt, a red checkered skirt, black knee high socks, calve high brown boots and her hair loose again. He closed his eyes and sighed as he waited for her.

"Ming what do you want?" Huey asked already getting irritated.

"I came to greet" she said plainly.

"Hi. Now goodbye." Huey said harshly.

"Very funny Freeman" she said rolling her eyes.

"Why aren't you doing sports?" he asked.

"Martial Arts start tomorrow."

"Oh. Since you are obviously not going to leave me alone, what do you want?" he said looking up at her for the first time since bumping into each other in the hallway.

"I wanted us to catch up"

"What do we have to catch up on?" Huey asked raising his eyebrow.

"How about seven years?" she said sitting down.

"Ming, that doesn't make us friends."

"Well, I'd like to start now" she said frankly.

Huey's eyebrows raised, but furrowed soon after. "How do I know that this isn't another trick?"

Ming exhaled exasperated, "Huey that was because of my grandfather. I only laughed at you because you actually fell for it. You seemed a lot smarter than anticipated."

"When you talk about concentration camps, it's hard not to believe" he spat, shooting daggers at her.

"Okay, Okay. I'm sorry Freeman" she said sincerely. "You'll be happy to know that I don't do kickball anymore due to that ball you threw."

"I'm not happy that I broke your leg Ming" Huey said, feeling a bit guilty now.

"I wasn't happy that I did the same to your arm" she said equally as guilty. There was silence for a moment until she spoke again. "So what do you say? Friends?" she asked taking out her hand for him to shake.

"You have to earn that title" he said frankly.

She just smiled and said, "Deal." With that, Ming Long-dou and Huey Freeman were starting afresh.

At the gym…

Jazmine changed into her dance practice outfit and headed for the centre of the gymnasium. She wore a white school t-shirt with the acronym 'WHS' on it, grey shorts and black All Stars with her hair up.

She was early so she began to warm herself up with some of her old routines. She played her music on the school speakers. She played Nothing But A Number feat. Yazz and Naomi Campbell. As the smooth intro began she started stretching a bit as she got her body in rhythm. As the song started playing with Yazz rapping, Jazmine went into routine. When her routine finished before the song did, she did a bit of flowing and bucking.

"Oh damn! Slow down girl!" some guy said starting to enter the gym.

"Damn baby! Do that again!" another guy shouted.

Jazmine was going red due to the boys. The all wore Woodcrest Lions Jerseys Basketball jerseys. Jazmine started really nervous because the boys were approaching her. She's seen these douchebags around school so she wasn't ready.

"Ugh guys do you mind?" Jazmine said with that nervousness in her voice. They just ignored her as they approaching her.

"Oh c'mon bae" the first guys said leaning his hand against the wall. The other was standing in front of her.

"EY! Can't you tell that you're making the girl uncomfortable?" Riley yelled from the door while Cindy was already stomping her way towards them.

"Riley, mind your own business!" one of the boys yelled.

"Duval! Lecrae! Get yo' thirsty asses away from her!" Cindy shouted. She grabbed Duval by his curls and Lecrae by his ear.

"Ahhh! Cindy chill!" Lecrae screamed.

"We was just messin' around!" Duval tried to defend.

By this time Riley came and winded both the suckers hard. They struggled to catch their breath from the blow Riley gave them. "Ugh huh! That's right bitch!"

"Get to the courts, now!" Cindy yelled.

Riley approached his sister. "Ey, Jazz, sis you a'ight?" he asked holding her forearms. Jazmine nodded still getting over her nerves. "Breath, I got you" he said hugging his friend. Jazmine hugged back and thanked him. "It's a'ight. Gotta run though. See you later" he said as he patted her on the back and started running to the door.

Jazmine exhaled and watched as her dance team came inside the gym while Riley exited.

 **Later At the fields…**

A nice thing about some of the practices is that the boys and girls can play together if they get the chance. Skylar and Caesar were busy trying to score goals with Hiro as goalkeeper.

"So, ugh, Skylar…" Hiro started.

"Call me Sky, Hiro" she said with that beautiful smile of hers.

Caesar has already noticed what Hiro was trying to do. Therefore, he smirked.

"Okay. So Sky…" Hiro started again.

Skylar just chuckled, "Yeah Hiro?"

"What's your story? I never really got to know it properly. I only know the bits and pieces" Hiro said.

"Well, I was born in Madison Wisconsin, but I moved to The Bronx at age thirteen. I moved there because of my mom's work. It sounds crazy but yeah. She's a social worker so we had to move there because of the stuff that goes down there. Dad is a lawyer. It just made sense at the time, but my sisters and I really had to adjust. My school is having some wack stuff happening so I needed to transfer. That's why I'm here in Woodcrest with Cindy. Family's still in The Bronx, but will be moving back to Wisconsin soon."

"Damn" Hiro muttered.

"Yeah I don't talk about it a lot" she said as she let out another chuckle before trying to score again.

"Did you ever date?" Hiro asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, only at fifteen though. Wasn't really chasing. Dated this one guy Jamal, but we cut it after a couple of months." She answered.

"So you don't fancy anyone here?" Hiro asked testing the waters. This made Caesar grin.

"Well…" she started.

"What?" Caesar asked now getting into the conversation.

"Riley ain't so bad-" she started.

"Wait, what!?" both Hiro and Caesar questioned.

Skylar started to blush. She tried to score again but Hiro caught it with both hands as he started walking up to her. Caesar was snickering.

"I think he's cool!" Skylar defended.

"Riley!? Sky are you serious? You've been dissing this guy hard ever since you rocked up here! How does that function?" Hiro exclaimed totally taken aback.

"Hey! Stuff can change!" she exclaimed defending herself.

"Watch out though. That boy is thirsty" he warned his new friend.

"Maybe I could quench him…" she uttered.

"Oh hell no! Sky you nasty!" Caesar laughed.

"Shut up!" she said as she pushed him.

"Waaaaaah!" Cindy greeted coming to the field with Riley walking next to her.

"Hey baby!" Caesar called out as he saw his girlfriend. This led to her running up to her boyfriend and leaping into his arms for a big hug and kiss.

Riley just scolded at this and rolled his eyes secretly before greeting the gang.

"Wassup fam?" Hiro said as he gave him dap. This was a bit difficult for him because he just found out that the girl he tried to ask out on a date likes his friend.

"Sup man, it's all good" Riley replied. After giving Hiro dap, he turned to Skylar but frowned slightly. Skylar laughed at this. "What you laughin' at? Thinking of another way to diss me?" he said still frowning.

"No Riley" she said with that cute smile.

"Well, ugh, hi" Riley said in reply.

"Hey Riley" she responded still smiling.

"Ugh, you good?"

"Yeah. Wanna play?" Skylar suggested.

"Is a penalty you dissing me?" Riley asked raising his eyebrow.

"No! C'mon Riley I'm actually tryna be nice" she tried to reason.

"Well, a'ight" he hesitated. By this time Caesar and Cindy were gone who knows where and Hiro was about to leave.

"Hiro aren't you gonna stick around?" Skylar asked.

"Nah I gotta go find Ming" he said in response.

"Okay, see yah" she concluded going to play soccer with Riley. It was after practice anyways.

 **Back at the gym…**

Jazmine just finished packing her bags as she headed out the gym waving goodbye to her coach and teammates. She was walking down the hallway on her way to the parking lot when she heard a foreign voice call her out.

"Strawberry hair girl!" Ming yelled trying to get her attention.

As Jazmine turned around, she was bombarded with Ming and Huey walking together. This did not bode well with her heart, but she kept it back and smiled. "Hey slick hair girl!" she replied to Ming's odd greeting. Huey shook his head at the both of them.

"I guess we have nicknames now! You're strawberry and I'm slick" Ming said trying to make another friend. Inside Jazmine was thinking of things to throw at the girl, but smiled and laughed.

"Yeah mos def!" she laughed with a fake smile.

"What you doing now?" Ming asked.

"I'm heading to work" Jazmine answered.

"No you're not" Huey said jumping in.

"Yes I am Huey. It's Monday the 15th. I start work again" Jazmine said giving Huey a questioning look.

"Dressed like that?" Huey asked bluntly looking at her sweaty gym outfit.

Jazmine rolled her eyes, "No silly I bathe there."

"Do you know how many diseases you could catch in those showers?" Huey retorted.

"Huey shut up. Okay well, bye!" Jazmine chimed as she ran to the parking lot to get into her car. She got in February for her birthday after she got her license.

"Bye Strawberry!" Ming chimed as well.

"Bye Slick" Jazmine laughed. And with that, Jazmine was off.

"I don't think she likes you" Huey said bluntly.

"What?" Ming said whipping her head to him. "But we were getting along so well!"

"Yeah, but something doesn't bode well with her. I just don't know what it is" Huey stated.

"I think you're over exaggerating. Relax." Ming said in her heavy accent.

"Ey! Sup yal!" Hiro said as he identified his friend and cousin.

"Hey" Ming greeted as she received a fist pump from her cousin after giving one to Huey.

"What yal up to? Breaking each others limbs again?" he chuckled.

"No, we just became friends" Ming said.

"Acquaintances" Huey corrected her. This just made her roll her eyes.

"Okay well, where's Jazz?" Hiro asked.

"Off to work" Huey answered.

"Cool. Wanna eat there?" Hiro initiated.

"No I think she wants to be alone" Huey answered.

At Starbuck's...

"Here's your order, sir" Jazmine said handing a customer their meal.

The man thanked her and she retreated back to the kitchen. Jazmine was now fresh and clean wearing her black and green Starbucks uniform. Her hair was up in a high messy bun with some of her curls coming out by her sides. She was getting the next meal ready to serve when her co-worker called her.

"Ey Jazz! Table 12 requests you as their waitress! Big ass group!" Delilah yelled.

"Okay fine. Just handle these meals then. Table 7." She said as she walked out the kitchen.

As she went over to table 12, she saw the squad chatting it up. 'Ugh, come oooon!' Jazmine thought. She tried to turn back around, but Caesar has good eyes.

"Ey Jazz! Sup girl! Come here I'm hungry!" he yelled.

"Yeah Mariah! Niggas be hungry!" Riley yelled as well annoying Jazmine by calling her Mariah.

"I'm not taking your order if you keep calling me that" Jazmine said sternly.

This made everyone whine. This also caused Cindy to smack Riley upside his head, Caesar and Huey to glare at him, Hiro to punch his arm and Skylar and Ming to laugh.

"Okay, okay! Damn! Jazmine take our orders!" Riley said.

Jazmine smiled and walked over to her friends and started taking their orders. After they harassed her with their orders she went back to call out their orders and treat other customers. After eating their meals, her friends stood up to leave. Jazmine still had half an hour before her shift ended.

After she packed up and said her farewells to her co-workers, she headed out the door. As she walked to her Mercedes, she saw none other than Huey Freeman leaning against it waiting for her.

"Ugh, Huey?" Jazmine asked confused.

"Yeah?" Huey replied.

"What are you still doing here? Didn't you take Dorothy today?"

"Yeah, but the gang came over for a bit until we drove here in Caesar's car." He answered.

"Oh okay. Hop in" she said as she unlocked her car.

They got in and drove home in silence because Jazmine didn't feel like listening to her radio.

"So why don't you like Ming?" he asked breaking the silence.

"It's not that" she started, "I just feel intimidated."

"From what?"

"None of your business, Freeman" she said sternly. This surprised Huey and therefore he frowned.

"Since when don't you tell me things?" he asked.

"Since I decided not to tell you everything in my life" she spat back.

"What the hell Jazmine? Stop trying to act tough"

"I'm not"

"Yes you are"

"I'm not!"

"Yes. You. Are"

"HUEY SHUT THE FUCK UP!" she shouted getting riled up.

Huey just looked at her and then faced the front. They were in silence for a couple more seconds before they entered Timid Deer Lane and parked in Jazmine's driveway. They exited at the same time and Jazmine quickly locked her car as she paced towards her door. Huey grabbed her arm and spun her around and just looked at her.

They were staring into each other's eyes as their anger was still on high level. Jazmine's emerald eyes staring into Huey's maroon ones. Before she could do something she'd regret, Jazmine grabbed her arm away and walked into her house slamming the door behind Huey.

"Is that how you want things to be? Fine, Jazmine!" Huey shouted and walked across the street.

The next thing Jazmine knew she was sliding down her front door with her back against it until she sat down on the floor and dipped her head in between her legs and just let the tears slide down her face. No whaling, no screaming, no mumbling, just a lot of tears and sniffles.

* * *

Author's Note: The Routine Jazmine uses in the beginning is choreography done by Matt Stefanina dedicated to the song "Post to be". So if you want too see it, search it on YouTube.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Epiphany

"Ayo, Reezaaay!" Cindy shouted as she approached one of her best friends.

"What's good girl!" Riley shouted back opening his arms for a big hug from his crush.

Cindy crip-walked all the way to Riley and jumped last minute into his arms. Riley picked Cindy up and spun her around as he squeezed her firmly and warmly. The duo laughed at their goofy encounter as her settled her back down to the ground.

'I wanna do that to you everyday' Riley thought.

"So wassup? It's been forever since we had one on one!" she said giving him dap.

"Yeah fo'real! We gotta plan somethin'! Yo'! Let's go out this weekend!" he said enthusiastically.

"Oooh snap! I promised Ceez that I'd hang by him over the weekend" she said now feeling a bit guilty.

"Oh, nah it's a'ight. We'll work around it" he said trying to seem normal while deep down his heart was wrenching. "So where is err'body?"

"I don' know. I think their all by the parking lot of somethin'. It's study hall so yeah." He answered.

"Wanna shoot some hoops?" she asked hopefully with those beautiful ocean eyes.

Riley's insides now turned to goo looking at her eyes. The McPhearsons always had the most beautiful smiles. "Psshht girl lets go so I can show you who the master is!" Riley said pompously.

"Sweet! Let's play Tip when we get there!" she said as she walked next to her closest friend.

Cindy was always happier with Riley, and he was always there when she was in trouble or when she needed a shoulder to cry. He's always been there for her and she just wants to make sure that Riley sees that she appreciates it. She really wants to hang around Riley more because they missed out on bonding during summer since he went Chicago to visit Aunt Cookie.

As they approached the courts, Riley started taking off his hoodie. Today Riley wore a more laid back outfit that consisted of black basketball shorts, a white hoodie and some green hi-top All Stars. Cindy wore printed denim jeans that had quotes written in white on them, black sneakers and a tribal crop-top with her in a high up.

When Riley finished taking off his hoodie, they got ready for their game at the 3-pointer line, squatting down with their legs apart infront of each other. Riley grinned as they gave each other a challenging stare down. Cindy also grinned just before she said, "Tip!"

In The Music Room…

"Could it be I'm suffering  
Because I'll never give in?  
Won't say that I'm falling in love  
Tell me I don't seem myself  
Couldn't I blame something else?" Jazmine sang the chorus.

As Jazmine was singing, Hiro was busy tweaking around at the table editing Jazmine's cover song. Jazmine kept on singing as Hiro bumped his head to his friend's beautiful voice.

"Just don't say I'm falling in love  
'cause I've been there before and it's not enough  
So nobody say it

Don't even say it  
I've got my eyes shut  
Won't look, oh  
No, I'm not in love" Jazmine bellowed as she sang the final verse before she sang the final chorus, winging the end of the song just like Corinne Baily Rae does it herself. Hiro just smiled as he just watched his friend sing her heart out.

Hiro clapped as the song ended and walked towards his friend. "Now that's wassup Jazz! That voicebox is a gift!" he said appraoching her before giving her a hi-5. Hiro wore white torn skinny jeans, a jade coloured v-neck shirt and olive coloured Nikes. His hair has grown longer on the sides.

"Thanks Hiro" Jazmine gleamed as she started taking off her headset. "You know, I couldn't have done it without your help." She said as she gave Hiro a heartfelt hug. Jazmine wore an indigo coloured romper with white stars around it, a grey short sleeved open wooly sweater and brown combat boots. Her hair was in a high bun showing off her dangling butterfly earrings. Hiro and Jazmine haven't been friends since they were two, but they somehow always had each other's backs.

"Ready to head out of here?" he asked.

"Yeah. I just wanna go home and rehearse now" she said now sounding exasperated.

The two friends walked down the hallway making small talk on their journey to the parking lot since it was nearly the end of the school day. As they finally reached the parking lot, they hugged goodbye and Jazmine was on her way to her Mercedes.

Huey was leaning against Dorothy chatting with Caesar, Skylar and Ming. Jazmine walked straight passed him not even giving him a glance. Huey just kept on leaning against his grandfather's car while his best friend was putting her school bags in her boot. As she finished putting her bags away and shutting her boot, she said her goodbyes to the rest of the group, except for Huey. She walked straight passed him and into her car. The next thing Huey knew, she was idicating left for Timid Deer Lane.

"Okay, I could be wrong, but I'm feeling some bad vibes between you and Jazz" Skylar said as she was taking note of their encounter.

"How is that any of your business?" Huey spat.

Skylar just lifted up her hands in a defensive manner and chuckled, because Huey only spoke like that to her when he knew she was right.

"Is strawberry alright?" Ming asked innocently.

"Well that's what we're all trying to find out" Caesar said as he started eyeing Huey.

Huey just looked out into the distance avoiding eye contact with anybody. He clenched his jaw which expresses his beautiful dominant jaw line and folded his arms. Everyone chuckled at this because he rarely acted this way.

There's one thing all Huey's friend knew: Certain body language means a lot for Huey Freeman. Like the old saying goes, 'Actions speak louder than words.' And right now, Huey was saying a lot.

"Yup, they're fighting" Caesar confirmed, which lead to Hiro snickering.

"What are you two fighting about?" Ming asked.

"I said none of yal's damn business" Huey stated sternly.

This made Skylar and Caesar crack up. Hiro started laughing a long time ago. "Okay guys, well I'm gonna go to the courts. Halla if you need me" Skylar said as she dapped everyone goodbye.

"Huey stop being a bitch and just tell us" Hiro said now pushing it.

"Hiro shut your dumbass up!" Huey said now looking at someone for the first time since Jazmine walked passed.

"Huey you whipped man" Caesar said as he cracked out into a ghetto laugh while Ming was still shaking her head at this entire situation.

At the courts…

"Yeah yeah!" Riley shouted as he shot a three-pointer.

"Whatever man" Cindy chuckled as she rolled her eyes. They both went back to the three-pointer line. As they got into their stances, Cindy smirked. They were eyeing each other again, their breaths were heavy and their panting could be heard off the courts. "Tip" Cindy said before they separated into play.

Cindy had the ball this time and she was by the free throw line before Riley acted as defense on her with his sweaty arms up. Cindy was now shuffling. Before Riley knew it, he had been crossed by Cindy. Cindy did a swirl against Riley when she crossed him and did a lay-up.

"Boom!" Cindy yelled getting up in her hommie's face while laughing. Riley just chuckled as well. They were now both in each other's faces. They smiled. Cindy's ocean blue eyes gazing into Riley's hazel ones. They started smiling at each other. Riley's heart rate was increasing by the second. Cindy's, which was startling for her, was increasing as well. There was a beautiful moment between them before Cindy's cousin decided to cockblock.

"Heey!" Skylar yelled approaching the courts.

This caused Cindy and Riley to jump apart due to being startled by Skylar's voice.

"How was the ball sesh? You two are dripping" Skylar announced.

"Dripping with swaaag!" Riley and Cindy surprisingly said at the same time. This caused them to look at each other and laugh at their similarity.

Skylar chuckled and approached the two. "Ey yo Riley-"

"Reezy girl!" he defended.

"Reezy, walk with me for a bit?" Skylar asked plainly.

"Yeah, sure whatever" Riley said. He quickly gave Cindy dap and started walking with Skylar to wherever she wanted them to go.

Cindy still did not know why, but every time she saw Riley with another girl, her heart got angry. However, whenever they're together, it's happy. And whenever they enjoy each others company or her looking into his eyes, it started racing. Cindy's still trying to get with terms as to why her heart is playing with her.

By Woodcrest Park…

"So wassup? Someone get shot?" Riley asked.

"No dumbass. I just wanted to hang. Are you still thinking I'm gonna troll you?" Skylar asked a bit offended. She never knew she was dissing this boy that hard.

"Are you sure? 'Cause if this some kinda game imma get-"

"Riley, please!" Skylar said as she raised her voice slightly. "I'm trying to be nice. I'm trying to be cool. Damnit, Riley I wanna get to know you."

This surprised Riley. He wasn't expecting the person that dissed him the first time they met to be this serious with him all of a sudden.

"Listen Riley, I'm sorry I've been being a bitch and dissing you. I'm sorry I turned you down when you were just being yourself. Now I'm coming to terms with that. So now, I want to be myself around you . So please, just let me in?" she said as she stopped walking and looked at Riley.

Riley was now completely shocked. He gave a small smile. This caused her to smile. "A'ight, cool. Sorry that I've been shuttin' you down more than necessary. Yeah, I'll let you in girl. Truce?" he said giving her that look. The look that meant 'is this really happening?'.

"Truce" she said . Riley's eyes went wide, but quickly went back to normal size and smiled. Next thing Skylar knew, Riley's arm was around her shoulders and her arm wrapped around his waist as they continued walking and getting to know each other.

At The Bushido Brown Dojo…

"Final count! Ready, and-" Huey said to his class.

"Hah!" the kids yelled as they put out their right fist.

"Hah!" they yelled as they put out their left first.

"And!" Huey prepped them.

"Yī, Liǎng, Sān!" they screamed as they fisted both arms and spinned out their right leg.

"Bow" Huey ordered. They obeyed. "Xièxiè" he thanked the kids.

"Xièxiè gèwèi gāoshǒu!" they said before they went to change out of their robes.

Huey went into the staff bathroom and quickly changed back into his clothes. He wore a navy short sleeve dress shirt with a long sleeve white top under it. He also wore loose fitting jeans and Timbalands.

"Goodbye Mr Han" Huey said as he exited the dojo.

"Goodbye, Huey" Mr Han said as he bowed. Huey had a large amount of respect for that man. He was one of the few really nice people at the dojo and has been there for him ever since he stated taking martial arts more seriously at the age of 12. Huey bowed back and exited the dojo.  
"Wow, Huey Freeman's a fighter?" Ming said leaning on Dorothy.

"Ming, when did you get here?" he asked a bit taken aback.

"Hiro lives a block away from here. I saw you drive past so figured I'd see where you went."

"…Ming that's called stalking" Huey said eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh, that wasn't my intention Freeman. Sorry" she apologised now understanding her odd actions.

"It's fine. Just don't do that again" he said still eyeing her suspiciously.

"Ugh, it's getting late" she announced.

Huey rolled his eyes, "Get in the car."

Ming smiled. "Thanks Freeman"

Huey just nodded as he drove.

"So how was your day?" she asked.

"It was fine."

"Okay, mine was fine too thanks" she said sarcastically.

Huey rolled his eyes. "How was your day Ming?"

"It was alright I guess."

"Okay."

Ever since Ming and Huey started to hang more, Huey became bored and Ming just became more, clingy. There was an awkward silence after that. Luckily, Huey stopped in the Otomo's driveway just in time.

"Damnit Ming!" Hiro yelled from the porch.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Don't just go out without telling somone!" Hiro yelled in a desperate voice.

"Sorry Hiro…" she said now feeling guilty.

"What were you doing?" he asked.

"I went to that dojo down the street to see Huey. I want to start working there." She answered.

Huey whipped his head around from inside the car, "What?"

"I want to work there as well" she said to the boys.

Hiro and Huey just blinked at her. "Bye" Huey just stated closing the passanger door and started reversing. As he was about to drive off, he opened his window and spoke to Ming. "Ming, if you join that dojo, I will call you a stalker daily." He said before he drove off.

'This girl is acting crazy', he thought as he drove home.

At the Freeman's Residence…

"I'm home." Huey stated coming in.

"Boy! You're late!" Robert yelled.

"I know" Huey replied.

"Your work days end at 17:00! What you doing here at 17:31?"

"I had to drop Ming off at her house" Huey answered. At that, there was a crash in the kitchen.

"Ay yo, Jazz you a'ight?" Riley called from the living room.

"Cutie pie you alright?" Robert asked with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, ugh, I'm fine. The spoon just fell" she stuttered. "So uhm, the food is ready, the rice is just warming up in the microwave. I'm gonna go now. Thanks for the history notes Mr Freeman!" she said exiting the kitchen walking to the door.

"You're welcome little baby!" he said as she paced to the door.

Unlucky for Jazmine, she was being blocked by Huey at the door. She attempted to go around, but Huey would block her either way. She stopped for moment as she tried not to get angry.

"Look at me" Huey said trying to get Jazmine to look at him. "Look at me Jazmine." Jazmine tried to push Huey out the way, but that was her dumbest move all day, because he grabbed her wrist. She shoved him off her and went out the door.

Huey didn't walk away this time. This time he chased her to her door. Before she could make any move to open her door, her arm was grabbed a hold of once again by Huey. This was deja vu for them. Huey spun her around and pinned her to her front door. "Jazmine DuBois, I said LOOK. AT. ME" he growled.

For the first time since Monday, Jazmine made eye contact with Huey Freeman. Her eyes stated watering.

"Now, you are going to tell me why you cussed me out four days ago. Four fucken days ago Jazmine! It's Thursday Jazmine! You haven't spoken to me in almost four days?"

"Let me go!" Jazmine shouted while her tears rolled down her cheek.

"NO! I will not let this go any longer! It's like you forgot about me Jazz-"

"Don't you DARE call me that!" she screamed "Don't you dare call me that and don't you dare tell me that I've forgotten about you when you forgot about me! Ever since Ming came to this town, you've been hanging less around me! Do you even know what's been happening with me lately? Do you know that I was harassed by Jamal and Duval this week? Do you know that I became captain for the dance team? Do you know that I have a solo next week in assembly?! NO FREEMAN! YOU DON'T! So do me a favour and-"

"NO! You owe ME a favour! So my favour right now is for you to shut up and listen!" Huey said still having Jazmine pinned against a wall.

"Go ask Ming for a favour Hu-"

Huey now had both his hands by the sides of Jazmine's face. "SHUT…UP" he growled.

Jazmine bit her lip to keep in her sobs in as Huey was being an asshole. Huey put his thumb on her lips so that she didn't bite. Now he was focusing on Jazmine's lips. Jazmine's rosy pink, supple, pouty lips. The next he knew, Huey had his eyes closed, but his lips opening and closing against Jazmine's lips.

Jazmine didn't understand how her hands were intwind and tugging on Huey's hair. Jazmine still wanted to rant to Huey about his bullshit, but right now, she wasn't able to because instead of her mouth shouting words at Huey, it was punched up against his own mouth. It was as if they were still fighting, but with their lips, because they were now in the most heated make-out session they could believe. After a couple of moments, they let their lips separate for air as they panted.

One thing for sure, Huey Freeman and Jazmine DuBois has their first kiss.

* * *

Author's Note: Song used - Corinne Bailey Rae - Trouble Sleeping


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! I was on a trip and studying for exams so I never got the chance to write some of my chapters or upload them. Apologies for that. Without further ado, Chapter five!

* * *

Chapter 5: Consensus

"Ming! Me o samashimasu!" Hiro shouted from the other side of the door.

"Ugh, Watashi wa yo!" Ming replied groaning into her pillow. Ming was still trying to get used to the new time zone she is in. jetlag is not her favourite thing in the world. It took her fifteen minutes to get out of bed and another thirty to get ready for school. It's Friday so she was looking forward to her first weekend in Woodcrest as a citizen.

Ming wore a long sleeved black dress that was just above her knees and brown sandals. She wore her hair in a slick back pony tail showing off her beautiful round face and clear complexion. She headed downstairs and headed to the kitchen where she bumped into her aunt, uncle and cousin.

"Ohayō!" She said as she greeted her family good morning.

"Ohayō Ming" Hiro said giving his cousin a punch buggy. Ming returned one and ended up laughing with her cousin.

"Ming, Hiro?" Hiro's mother asked.

"Hai, Oba-chan?" Ming replied.

"Your uncle and I are going on a business trip this weekend and we need you two to be on your best behaviour. Also, I will only be allowing this once, but since it's your first weekend here in Maryland we'll allow you to have a get together."

"You mean a party?" Hiro asked with a big smile.

"Hai" Mr Otomo replied.

"Yes! Arigato Otōsan!" Hiro thanked his father and crushed both his parents in a big thankful hug. They all finish having breakfast and say their farewells as Ming and Hiro go to school.

At Woodcrest High School…

"And then I told that sucker that I was gon' bust a cap in his ass if he gets all up in my face again!" Riley exclaimed looking like his gangster self. He wore baggy red capris jeans, a white tank top, a black bandana and white Nike Airmax shoes.

"Riley are you sure this really happened to you?" Caesar asked feeling a bit sceptical.

"Yeah nigga! I showed that punk who the real Reezy is!" Riley said starting to flex. This made everyone laugh.

"Ay yo, has anyone seen Jazmine?" Cindy asked after laughing. Everyone just shrugged their shoulders. "Ey fo'real yal I haven't seen my hoodrat! Where she at? Mufasa, do you know where she is?" Cindy asked Huey.

"I told you to stop calling me that" Huey said sternly as he leaned against his locker. "And no. I don't know where she is."

"Well that's the first. Didn't she catch a ride with you this morning?" Cindy asked still trying to find out her location.

"No."

"Why not?" Cindy asked now getting suspicious.

"Damnit Cindy I don't know! Why don't you call her or something?" Huey exclaimed now irritated.

"I would have if I had my phone on me you cheeky bitch! I left it at home today! Huey why are you being a bigger dick than usual? Are yal still fighting?" Cindy asked now equally as irritated as Huey.

"Fuck I don't know! You go ask her!"

"Oh my gosh Huey that's what she's trying to find out!" Skylar shouted now as pissed off as the both of them.

"She's asking basic questions that need basic answers! She's asking you because she knows how close you two are. For goodness sake what is up with you today? Whatever has been happening between the two of you, do NOT let it rub off on us. Maybe you two should just try and sort things out or stop making us punching bags because of your troubles." The whole group was silent after Skylar's word of mouth.

"Morning yal!" Hiro said approaching his friends with Ming. By the time they joined the group, it was still dead silent with Skylar's red face glaring at Huey's tense one. Huey's veins could be seen from his jaw as he clenched it and Skylar's breathing still settling. Cindy and the others just looked at the floor.

"…Th-the air is very tense over here…" Ming said now feeling the mood. There was still silence, before Huey got on his feet, readjusted his backpack and heading to his class before lunch.

Now it was just the six of them still trying to make sense of the events that just occurred.

"…Punk" Riley muttered.

At lunch…

Jazmine had just finished her Geomorphology class and was heading to the girl's bathroom before heading to the cafeteria. When she was done, she quickly did a look down on herself before heading out the door. She wore her hair down today and was wearing a grey beanie over her beautiful strawberry blonde locks, a grey flowy skirt that was just above her knees, a plain white t-shirt with black silhouette giraffes all over it with dark blue Vans.

As she was nervously walking to the cafeteria down the hallway, she felt a hand grab her wrist and pull her in the opposite direction. This made her squeak with a bit of fear as she now saw a closed door in front of her face in a small room.

"Oh my gosh!" Jazmine squeaked now totally scared. "Take my money! Or my lunch bag! Police! FBI! Huey, someone please!" she panicked.

"Wow, you're really paranoid Jazz." Cindy stated from behind her.

Jasmine whipped her head around to see her best friend chuckling at her because of her paranoia. "Cindy! What the heck?!" she asked totally taken aback.

"Jazz you's a crazy bitch" Cindy now holding back chuckles. Jazmine just rolled her eyes at her friend's foolishness. "However, I did bring you in here for a purpose."

"Couldn't we have done this like civil people and had done it by a locker or something? Why on earth in the instrument room?" Jazmine asked puzzled,

"I would like to know what you and Huey have been doing for him to be acting like such a pussy. I don't like pussy Huey, because I get the temptation to bust a cap in his ass."

"Wh-what does that have to do with me?" Jazmine asked now stuttering.

"Jazmine, you guys haven't been talking for almost a week. What the hell girl?" Cindy asked.

Jazmine sighed. "If I tell you everything will you promise not to utter a word?" she asked with her beautiful emerald eyes.

Cindy smiled. "Jazz, you know I got your back. I can't believe you even asked me" she said looking at her best friend sincerely.

Jazmine told Cindy everything from Ming moving here, to their fight, and to their kiss.

Flashback…

Huey now had both his hands by the sides of Jazmine's face. "SHUT…UP" he growled.

Jazmine bit her lip to keep in her sobs in as Huey was being an asshole. Huey put his thumb on her lips so that she didn't bite. Now he was focusing on Jazmine's lips. Jazmine's rosy pink, supple, pouty lips. The next he knew, Huey had his eyes closed, but his lips opening and closing against Jazmine's lips.

Jazmine didn't understand how her hands were entwined and tugging on Huey's hair. Jazmine still wanted to rant to Huey about his bullshit, but right now, she wasn't able to because instead of her mouth shouting words at Huey, it was punched up against his own mouth. It was as if they were still fighting, but with their lips, because they were now in the most heated make-out session they could believe. After a couple of moments, they let their lips separate for air as they panted.

End of Flashback…

By this time, Cindy's jaw was touching the dirty floor of the instrument room. It made Jazmine very uncomfortable that Cindy was just staring at her with her mouth open. She was about to say something, but was quickly cut off by Cindy's squeals, clapping and jumping up and down. This made Jazmine scared.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! OH. MY. GOSH! FINALLY!" Cindy squealing.

"Cindy please stop. You're making me uncomfortable" Jazmine stated now worried for her friend.

"Finally! I've BEEN waiting for this day!" Cindy said victoriously. "Don't let that Ming bitch get in the way of what is rightfully yours! Plus you've got a bigger ass than her" Cindy exclaimed.

"But she seems more of his style" Jazmine said now feeling very insecure.

"Jazz, listen to me. You're fire. If that bitch oversteps her boundaries, I'll put her in her place. I'm not afraid of a challenge." Cindy said confidently. "Now come on. It's time you confront Simba" Cindy said now opening the door.

"Do you know how much I love you?" Jazmine asked.

"A shit load" she answered as they laughed their way to the cafeteria.

At the cafeteria…

"You better play some good ass tracks at your party man" Caesar said to Hiro as they were discussing tomorrow's plans for the party.

"Yeah I don' want no gay shit" Riley said.

"Gents, who do you think I am?" Hiro asked arrogantly.

"An irritating cousin that needs to calm down" Ming answered. This lead to Hiro throwing his empty Coke bottle at her and everyone except Huey laughing. When does he ever laugh?

"The bitch is back!" Cindy said walking next to Jazmine. Today Cindy wore faded torn boyfriend jeans, black Airmax shoes, and a purple crop top with a checkered shirt around her waist. Her hair was up in a messy bun.

"Ey she got Jazz with her!" Caesar stated. At the sound of Jazmine's name, Huey froze without notice from anyone else.

"Hey guys" Jazmine said sitting down next to Ming since she was in her original seat next to Huey.

"Bitch where you been?" Riley questioned. Hiro smacked him upside his head. "Ow! Do that again and you won't be having a party!" Riley warned him.

"Wait, what?" Cindy asked confused.

"There's a party at our place tomorrow" Ming stated.

"Hiro's parents are out of town so they allowed them to throw something" Skylar assisted.

"They think it will be good for me since it's my first week here and want me to make more friends." Ming concluded.

"Well I'll be damned! Count me in!" Cindy said now getting excited.

While the excitement was all around the table, Jazmine was quiet. So was Huey.

"Jazz? Jazz?" Skylar called.

"Oh, ugh, yeah?" she replied now coming out of her daze.

"What do you say?" Skylar asked again. Jazmine didn't hear her the first time.

"Let's all go shopping today after school for the party tomorrow" Skylar repeated.

"Oh yeah sure" Jazmine answered now feeling a bit better.

"Yay! Shopping with Strawberry is going to be amazing!" Ming exclaimed.

Everyone was silent for a moment. "What you call her?" Cindy asked confused.

"Oh, I called her Strawberry." Ming stated with a genuine smile.

"Jazmine." Cindy said.

"Ugh, I'm confused" Ming stated chuckling a bit.

"Jazmine. Her name is Jazmine. Not 'Strawberry', not 'Watermelon', not 'Kiwi'. Her name's Jazmine." Cindy said sternly.

"Ding ding ding!" Riley voiced taking out his cell phone to take a video.

"Yes I know her name's Jazmine, but that's the nickname we agreed on" Ming initiated.

"She hates nicknames referring to her hair."

"Really?" Ming asked surprised.

"Yes, so please refrain from calling her that." Cindy stated lowly.

"Cindy calm down—" Jazmine started.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ming cut in whipping her head to her.

"I, ugh, well—"

"She's too kind to tell anyone. That's just the way Jazmine is" Caesar answered kindly to Ming.

"That's like how you called us Blondies" Skylar stated trying to reason.

"Oh, ugh sorry" Ming said apologetically.

"Fight bitches fight!" Riley said recording.

"Riley shut your dumbass up" Huey stated. Speaking for the first time since before lunch.

"Okaaaaay let's just finalize stuff so we can get on with our weekend" Hiro stated. After the squad agreeing, everything went back to the peaceful environment it was.

At the mall…

"So what exactly are we shopping for again?" Jazmine asked.

"Outfits for tomorrow night" Skylar answered.

"So what's first? Frozen yoghurt then the outfits or the other way around?" Ming asked.

"Clothes first" Cindy answered.

"Agreed" Skylar said standing by her cousin.

"Jazmine?" Ming asked.

"Ugh, clothes first" Jazmine answered.

"Sorry for offending you by the way" Ming said trying to apologize for her ignorance.

"Ming, it's okay. Cindy just blew it out of proportion."

"Ey! I stick by my hommies!" Cindy defended.

They all entered Cotton On to see what clothes they could find. Jazmine was already falling in love with some of the dresses while Cindy just looked bored while Ming and Skylar shipped around the shop. After a lot of dress options, Skylar was able to find an outfit for herself.

"It's so pretty!" Jazmine squealed. This was the first time in a while where Jazmine was in her comfort zone.

"Thanks Jazz" Skylar gushed. Her outfit was a dress with the top half of it white with lacing around its sleeves and chest area. Reaching the second half was a silky material in navy blue. Its length was two hands above the knee. She also got herself a pair of grey Rubi shoes as well.

"Jazz I'm shocked you didn't by anything here." Cindy said surprised.

"I come here too often. I wanna go somewhere else for once" she replied. Cindy nodded in understanding as they exited the store.

As they circled the mall, they reached Forever 21. Cindy made an over exaggerated gasp as she saw a dress from the inside of the shop. "Mine!" she screamed as she ran into the store. The rest of the girls laughed as Cindy let out her inner girl. "Guys! Come check out this sexy piece of shit!" she yelled to her friends.

"Cindy, breath" Skylar chuckled, but gasped as she saw then dress Cindy took out. It was a black dress with black lacing from top to bottom. There was a bold gold necklace knitted at the neck of the dress. The black fabric covered the chest area and a bit of the waist downwards. A small strip of the stomach area was covered only by the lace as well as the back of the dress.

"Oh my damn!" Jazmine said taken aback by the beautiful dress. "Cindy, that screams you!" Jazmine exclaimed.

"I know! That's why I call dibs! I'm going to look dangerous in this shit! Ay yo'! Assistant lady!" Cindy called out to a girl that works in the store.

"Afternoon, may I help you with—"the girl started.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah cut the cute assistant act I got what I need. All you need to do now is tell me where the shoes are so I can find something that will make niggas drop dead!"

"Cindy calm down" Ming chuckled.

"This dress is mine bitch! Mine!" Cindy said acting like a gremlin.

The girls and the person that works in the shop laughed. "The shoes are that way" she said pointing to a certain direction.

"A'ight! Thanks Faleesha!" Cindy said walking away giving the girl the deuces.

"Your friend is a real hood rat-" the girl started.

"EY!" Jazmine, Skylar and Ming yelled at her.

"Don't call her that' Skylar said giving her a look.

"You do not want her to hear you call her that" Jazmine warned her.

"Trust us" Ming added.

"I got the shoes! Let's pay up so we can go find the rest of yal somethin'." Cindy said with her dress in one hand and a pair of black heels with an open toe front and gold spikes at the back of them.

"Cindy…" Skylar started.

"Yeah?" Cindy asked.

"You're … holding heels…" Skylar said shocked.

"Oh, ugh, yeah. I do wear them from time to time. Sky, I'm still a girl" Cindy chuckled. Skylar just nodded as the rest of the girls went to go pay for Cindy's outfit.

As they exited the store and started walking again, Jazmine poked in. "Cindy, do you know what that assistant girl said about you as you headed for the shoes?" she started.

Ming and Skylar covered Jazmine's mouth from uttering things she'll regret. Cindy, now curious, stopped walking and asked, "What she say?" she asked while furrowing her brows with suspicion.

"Nothing!" Ming said trying to change topic.

"You know after we get that Froyo we should really—"Skylar tried as well.

"Guys just tell me!" Cindy ordered now a bit irritated.

"She called you a hoodrat" Jazmine muffled under Skylar and Ming's hands.

"She what?!" Cindy exclaimed now turning her body to her friends in a vicious manner.

"… You know what, Ming, text me where you guys go to next. I'll be right back" Cindy said giving her bags to her cousin and paced her way back to Forever 21.

"Cindy don't be stupid!" Skylar yelled as she saw her disappear into a crowd of people behind them.

Jazmine started laughing, but Skylar was quick to end it when she punched her in the arm. "Ow!" Jazmine shouted still laughing a bit now rubbing her forearm.

"Jazz, shame! Now Cindy will never be allowed in there ever again!" Ming exclaimed chuckling a bit as well.

"Are you sure?" Jazmine asked rhetorically raising her eyebrow with a sly smirk on her face.

"Jazmine, why?" Skylar whined as they all laughed their way to their next store.

After about five minutes, they reached a Marc Jacobs clothing store. All three of them entered the store and immediately started browsing. The moment Jazmine takes a dress into consideration, Ming was there to eye it too. This happened about four times and Jazmine was getting restless due to Ming's actions.

"Oooh this one's cute!" Jazmine squeaks.

"Yeah! The blue is amazing!" Ming says, right next to her.

"Ugh, yeah. Say uhm, Ming?"

"Yeah?" she replied with a smile.

"Don't you wanna check the dresses on that side of the store?" Jazmine tried to hint as kindly as possible.

"Oh, sure! I didn't see those!" Ming exclaimed now walking to the other side of the store.

Sometime went passed and Jazmine was now concluding her decision, until she felt someone behind her. She sighed exasperated, "Ming, c'mon please-"Jazmine started as she started turning around, but was bombarded by Skylar instead. "Oh, hey Sky" Jazmine said instead.

Skylar just stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. "Is everything okay?" Jazmine asked.

"Oh, I'm fine, but are you?" Skylar asked.

"Ugh, yeah I'm –"

"Bullshit." Skylar said cutting her off.

"Wh-what are you—"

"It's evident that you don't like Ming." Skylar said bluntly.

"Whoa Sky –"

"Jazmine…" Skylar said knowingly.

Jazmine sighed. "Okay yeah I don't." she said giving up.

"Mind telling me why? 'Cause you've been acting strange all week."

"It's a long ass story, but I'll tell you it later, okay?" Jazmine pleaded.

Skylar smiled. "Sure. It better be hectic, because you're not one to hate people."

"I don't hate her I just—"Jazmine started, but Skylar hushed her as she saw Ming walking back.

"Found anything?" Ming said approaching them.

"I think so" Jazmine said smiling at nothing specific.

"Cool! I'm still trying to find one" Ming said.

"Hey Ming, may you please come here with me?" Skylar asked, trying to stir her away from Jazmine.

"Sure" Ming answered.

Jazmine strolled for a couple more seconds until she found a dress that she really liked. It was a tribal looking dress that had a diamond zigzag pattern. It had colours ranging from red, orange, yellow, blue and purple. She loved it. She quickly went into a dressing room and tried it on. The dress hugged Jazmine's body and showed off her elegant curves. It was settled, Jazmine was buying that dress. She quickly took it off and also found a pair of brown heeled ankle boots that were folded down. By the time she was at the teller, Cindy was coming into the store looking a bit scuffled.

"Cindy, really?" Jazmine chuckled.

Cindy just shrugged, "That bitch doesn't know me. She had the nerve to give me cheek! I showed that bitch, and her manager!" she said victoriously. The two friends started laughing. "So what you got there?"

"This adorable dress and shoes" Jazmine gushed.

"I bet you'll look flawless girl" Cindy nudged at her as she paid. "Where's Ming and Sky?"

"Down there I think" she answered jabbing her thumb to a specific direction.

"What's she doing?" Cindy asked. She already knew Ming was irritating her so she just asked plainly.

"She's busy copying me and breathing down my neck and I can't deal with it. So Skylar distracted her that side so I could breathe" Jazmine answered.

"Jazmine, she wants to be you." Cindy stated bluntly. Why are all McPhearsons so blunt?

"But why?" Jazmine asked feeling riled.

"I still gotta figure that out." Cindy answered.

"I found something!" Ming exclaimed approaching Jazmine and Cindy with Skylar.

Ming had a claret minetta print dress. The style of the dress was similar to Cindy's. Ming also found a pair of white mouse themed pumps.

"That looks fresh girl!" Cindy exclaimed for Ming. She's not fond of the girl, but her dress really was cute.

Everyone finished paying for their things and headed towards Yumz for frozen yogurt. After chatting it up and having frozen yogurt. Everyone went to Jazmine's house. Cindy had parked her car there. As the entered Timid Deer Lane, Jazmine started to get nervous because she still wasn't ready to approach Huey after their kiss. Jazmine parked in her driveway and then the girls exited her Mercedes. While Jazmine was making her way to her porch, she could see Huey waiting by her front door.

'Fuck!' she screamed in her head.

Before she could think, Jazmine was subconsciously staring at Huey. She was guessing he could feel her stare, because he turned a stared right back at her. They were not just looking at each other, until Jazmine was bumped aside by Ming as she walked up to her porch to Huey.

"Hello Freeman." She initiated.

"Hi" Huey said still looking at Jazmine. Jazmine was busy trying to compose herself from almost falling and was now embarrassed to look back at Huey, but he kept on looking at her.

"How was the day with the boys?" Ming asked trying to start a conversation.

"Fine" he said, still not looking away from Jazmine.

"We all bought dresses." Ming stated, now seeming to force conversation.

"Okay." He said, still not budging, and Jazmine now fiddling with her skirt.

"Freeman, at least try and make conversation" Ming chuckled.

Huey didn't reply to this. Instead, he started walking to Jazmine while Ming was in mid-sentence. The closer he got to Jazmine, the more he could see how uncomfortable she looked. When he finally was in front of her, Huey just looked down at her.

Jazmine looked up hesitantly from her skirt. The moment she locked eyes with Huey, her breath hitched in her throat.

"Hi Jazmine" Huey greeted calmly.

"Hey Huey" Jazmine greeted back.

"May we go inside?" he asked her, taking her bags away from her.

"Ugh, okay" she said.

"Bye Jazz!" Cindy exclaimed from her Audi. "Ay! Ming! Get your ass in the car!" she shouted towards Ming.

"Coming" Ming said coming down the steps. "Bye Jazmine. Bye Freeman" she said.

"Bye Ming" Jazmine said walking to her house while Huey didn't even say goodbye.

As Cindy, Skylar and Ming drove off. Huey and Jazmine just entered the house.

"Cindy, what are you thinking about?" Skylar asked while Ming just looked out the window.

Cindy looked at Ming from her rear view mirror without her noticing and then focused back on the road as she started smiling. "A lot of shit, Sky. A lot of good shit" she said as she drove home.

* * *

Author's Note: If you want to see visual aspects of the dresses and shoes the girls picked out, just say so :) Chapter 6 will be up in 3 days or less :) R


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Someone really wanted to see the dresses the girls bought in the previous chapter. Therefore, I'll show you the links to their dresses. If you want the links and information on what I used in this specific chapter and the girls' dresses, go to my bio :)

* * *

Chapter 6: Let the Games Begin

At the Dubois…

"So, ugh, what's wrong?" Jazmine asked feeling nervous being alone with Huey in her foyer.

"Nothing's wrong" Huey answered plainly.

"Then why did you drag me into my house?" she asked still feeling nervous.

"To talk."

"About what?"

"Jazmine, don't play dumb" Huey stated firmly.

"I'm not ready to talk about it" Jazmine said now fiddling with her skirt again.

"You're not ready, or are you just afraid to admit that we kissed?" Huey asked raising his eyebrow.

"I, well, you—"

"Jazmine, we kissed" Huey stated looking down at Jazmine.

"Ugh-ugh! You kissed me!"

Huey looked to the side before he looked back at her "Okay yeah I'll admit that, but it takes two to tango"

"Yeah but-"

"Jazmine, you liked it."

"So did you!" Jazmine exclaimed trying to defend herself.

"Yes I did."

"Stop it!"

"Stop what?" Huey asked confused.

"Stop… being Huey." Jazmine commanded flabbergasted.

"Jazmine what the hell?" Huey asked now taking a step back looking at his best friend.

"Never mind. Sorry" she said still trying to compose herself.

"…Okay. Then may I ask you a question?" Huey asked putting his hands in his pockets walking towards her.

"Yeah, sure" Jazmine said observing his actions.

Huey took out one hand and scratched the back of his head looking in the opposite direction before turning back to Jazmine putting his hand back in his pocket. Then he opened his mouth, but then closed it again before he could say anything else. He took out his hands, and then put them back in his pockets.

"Huey, what are you doing?" Jazmine asked completely confused.

"Keep quiet" he ordered silently. Jasmine just frowned at this.

Huey stepped towards her, but then stepped back.

"Huey what on earth are you doing?" Jazmine asked furrowing his brows.

Huey then just looked at her, with, this look that Jazmine couldn't put her finger on. Something about the way he was looking at her made her blood rush to her cheeks and made them turn pink. Huey stepped towards her again, still giving her that look. Jazmine's words were stuck in her throat. Her breath hitched when she felt Huey's arm wrap around her waist. Huey had no idea what he was doing, but he wasn't stopping himself.

"Hu-"Jazmine started, but was cut off by Huey as he reached his face towards Jazmine's.

Huey hadn't taken his eyes off Jazmine, and Jazmine could tell. Their noses were touching, then he ever so slightly let their lips brush against each other. Jazmine let out a shallow sigh as she felt Huey's lip brush against hers. Jazmine has no idea what had gotten into her, but she grabbed Huey's bottom lips with her teeth and dragged them closer to her face and started kissing Huey.

By Huey's actions, he didn't mind at all because he wrapped his other arm around her waist and made sure her body stuck against his as they started their second make-out. Jazmine sighed into their kiss and starting tugging on his hair again. That must have been some secret button because Huey grabbed Jazmine by her hips and lifted her up. Jazmine immediately wrapped her legs around his waist as he pinned her to a wall. This carried on for a few more minutes with a lot of lip dragging and sucking.

'Shit' Jazmine thought.

'Fuck' Huey thought.

After some time, Huey pulled his lips apart from Jazmine's. They breathed heavily as they looked at each other again.

"So…" Jazmine started.

"Yes?" Huey asked still trying to catch some of his breath.

"Are you coming to the party tomorrow?" she asked groggily.

"Maybe. If there aren't too many white people I just might. I already see too many at school" Huey answered.

Jazmine chuckled, "Wow Huey" as was being settled down on the floor once again.

"I'll see you" Huey said when he finished putting her down and looking at her again.

"Yeah" she said looking up at him.

"Jazmine?" Sarah called out opening the front door.

"Yes?" she replied still looking at Huey.

"Did you start cooking or should we do take-outs because –"Sarah started, but stopped when she saw Huey and Jazmine in the foyer. "Oh, hello Huey"

"Afternoon Mrs DuBois." He greeted.

"I, didn't know you were here. Would you like to stay for dinner?" she asked trying to piece the puzzles.

"No, I have to get going now" he said and then started heading for the door.

"Alright then. Bye sweetheart, tell Robert and Riley I said hello" she said to him as he went to the door.

"Sure" Huey said as he exited the house and closed the door behind him.

Silence…

…

…

"So, Jaz-"

"Bye mom" Jazmine said cutting her mother off and heading to the stairs.

"You can't keep quite forever honey!" Sarah yelled from down the stairs. Sarah smiled, "I guess that means take-outs."

At the Freeman's…

"I got a bone to pick!

I don't want you monkey mouth motherfuckers sittin' in my throne again!

I'm mad, but I ain't stressin'

True friends, one question!" Riley rapped while Huey entered his household.

As Riley saw his brother enter the house, he turned to him and started rapping and dancing. "Bitch where you when I was walkin'?

Now I run the game got the whole world talkin', King Kunta

Everybody wanna cut the legs off him, Kunta

Black man taking no losses

Bitch where you when I was walkin'?

Now I run the game, got the whole world talkin', King Kunta

Everybody wanna cut the legs off him

When you got the yams, what's the yams?" Riley rapped around his brother. Huey just rolled his eyes and walked to the stairs.

Riley quickly put the volume down on the stereo and ran to the stairs. "What's up with you nigga?" he asked his brother. Huey didn't reply. "I already know you kissed her" Riley stated simply. This made Huey freeze in his tracks on the stairs. This made Riley smirk.

"Next time, try doing it indoors nigga. You ain't slick!" Riley chuckled to his brother.

"I did." Huey stated. This time, Riley was the one to freeze.

"So you telling me you smooched Jazz twice? When? I only saw yal last night." Riley said.

"Five minutes ago."

"Aaaaaahhh shit! I guess you ain't gay after all nigga!" Riley said running up the stairs to jump on his brother. However, Huey grabbed him by his face and kept him at arm distance. "Ey! A brother want's ta congratulate nigga!" Riley complained.

"I don't do that kind of stuff Riley. Now calm your ass down and go finish what you started downstairs."

Riley just rolled his eyes and took his face out of Huey's grip so he could head back downstairs.

"How did you even know I kissed yesterday?" Huey asked.

"Nigga yal were on the porch! That ain't slick fo' shit! And I think you forget her house is right in front of ours." Riley answered.

"Whatever" Huey said continuing his walk. As he did, Riley made nasty slurping sounds and starting licking his lips. "Ah, Riley no!" Huey exclaimed disgusted. This made Riley burst out laughing.

"The thirst is real holmes!" Riley said as he continued listening to his music.

The next day at Caesar's…

"Imma get you!" Caesar exclaimed.

"Neveeeeerr!" Anika yelled as she fiddled with the controlled.

"Caesar takes a left, takes the ramps, and, BOOM!" Caesar yelled as his car sped past the finish line on the television screen.

"WOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!" Caesar said starting to tickle his little sister. Anika burst out laughing, not just because of the tickling, but because her brother is such a geek when he wants to be.

"Caesar you're silly!" Anika teased.

"So are you" Caesar said as he stopped tickling his sister.

"So when is Cindy coming over?" she asked.

"Tonight I think" Caesar answered with a smile.

"Yay!" Anika yelled lifting her hands up in the air.

Caesar laughed at this and got up from the couch to make his family a quick lunch. Caesar wore blue crotch pants and a blank tank top with worn out black All Stars.

"Collabo?" he asked Anika.

"Ham, cheese and tomato" she answered with a sweet smile.

"Lemonade or Mango juice?"

"Hmmmmmmm…" Anika hummed with her cute little finger on her chin. "Lemonade please!" she exclaimed as she reached her decision.

"Berries?" he asked once more.

"Blueberries" Anika answered with her hands clasped looking at the ceiling thinking about how delicious those blueberries will taste once they enter her mouth for lunch.

"Okay cool. May you please go ask mom what she'd like?" Caesar asked one more time.

"Okie dokie" Anika chimed as she sped up the stairs to her mother.

"Thank you!" Caesar said to his sister as she went upstairs.

As Anika came back down the stairs, she told her brother that their mother just wanted water for now. Their mother was recovering from breast cancer. This made Caesar scared for his sister in the future, but never pondered on the thought too much. She was diagnosed three years back and after chemotherapy and other treatments, a miracle happened and their mother. Samira Caesar was cured from breast cancer.

"Thanks baby girl" Caesar said to his sister as he made lunch.

"When was the last time she ate Ceez?" Anika asked.

"This morning. Trust me, she's getting back to normal" Caesar said to his sister.

Anika was seven years old and captured every single gene Caesar had. The only difference was that her eyes were grey and not chocolate brown. She inherited that from her mother, but her features and hair were from her father, just like Caesar. Her hair was very similar to Jazmine's, except her hair wasn't as wild as Jazmine's and just over her shoulders while Jazmine's was just above her butt.

After making Anika lunch, Caesar grabbed the backpack he packed earlier so he could start heading to Hiro's to set up for the party. "Mom?" Caesar yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes Michael?" Samira asked from upstairs.

"I'm heading out to Hiro's now! Anika will bring you your bottle of water. Is that okay? Anything you need before I go?" he asked his mother.

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

"What's up?"

"Do me a favour and keep safe!" Samira she commanded sweetly.

Caesar smiled, "Sure, love you!"

"Love you too Michael!" she replied.

"Bye Ceez!" Anika said running to give her big brother a hug. Caesar smiled and returned it with a kiss on her forehead.

"Bye baby girl."

With that, Caesar exited his household and started walking to Hiro's. They're not far apart so he usually walks there.

At the Otomo's…

Hiro was busy setting up the living with his speakers and DJ deck. He also rearrange the furniture and put some cleaning supplies in the small closet close by the fireplace. He already knew that people are going to get wasted and he was prepared. His parents had left earlier today for their trip. His mother is the CEO of a large company while his father is the CFO of it. Therefore, they always do business together.

Ming was busy setting out the drinks and food in the kitchen as well as plastic cups. Both Hiro and Ming were in sweatpants and baggy t-shirts. The party starts at 19:00 and it was currently 17:30.

While Ming was throwing away packets, she heard the doorbell and quickly went to open it. She quickly opened the door to Caesar.

"Donata?" Hiro asked.

"It's Caesar!" Ming answered.

"Sup Ming" Caesar greeted giving her a hug and entering their home. "What have you guys done so far?" he asked.

"I'm doing food and drinks while Hiro's busy in the living room with the sound." She answered.

"Thanks" he said nodding his head at her and going to the living room.

"I can see you dressed to work" Hiro said looking at what Caesar was wearing.

"You too" Caesar said in reply. "What I gotta do?"

"Just rearrange the furniture a bit more so the dancefloor is spacy." Hiro commanded.

"Dope. Cleaning?" Caesar asked.

"I've already swept around here. Ming needs some help in the kitchen with a bit of cleaning. When you're done with that, just lock the bedrooms except mine and Ming's since we still gotta get dressed." Hiro concluded.

"Gotcha man" Caesar said quickly giving Hiro dap before getting to work.

One thing about Hiro's house is that it is quite big, but not as big as Cindy's. Caesar went to the kitchen and started helping Ming with things. When he entered the kitchen Ming just got off the phone. She had ordered pizza.

"So Ming!" Caesar exclaimed.

"Yes Caesar" she said in her adorable accent.

"Anyone you tryin' to impress tonight?" he asked nudging her ribs.

Ming chuckled, "That's none of your business" she said firmly.

"Oh snap! Who is he?" Caesar asked now interested.

"None of your business Caesar!" she said pushing him gently.

"I'm gonna find out sooner or later though" he said with a snicker.

Ming just rolled her eyes as she carried on preparing the food and drinks. Caesar finished cleaning, rearranging the furniture, locking the rooms and setting the keg outside. It was now 18:02. After all three of them finished their errands, Ming went to her room to get ready while Caesar and Hiro did a check on the speakers and mics. After that, the boys also went to get ready.

Ming finished showering and shaving. She quickly moisture her body and put on deodorant and out her dress on. The dress actually looked amazing on her slim frame. She put her hair in a messy French braid bun. She wore silver diamond earrings that looked like water droplets, a thin silver chain and her cute white mouse pumps. She put on some smoky eyeshadow and a pale pink lip-gloss that made her lips pop.

Hiro wore a white tank top with a tribal printed pocket on the side with a snapback that has the same printing. The printing was red, purple and blue. He wore black skinny jeans and red Airmax shoes. Caesar tied his dreads back. He wore a plain grey t-shirt with a black sleeveless vest over it and black jeans that were folded up to his ankles. He also wore black Vans and a leather necklace that had a Christian cross. One thing was for sure, they looked like fire!

It was now 18:35 and the doorbell rang again. However, someone at the door already opened up the front door and let themselves in.

"Yoooooooo! Where the bitches at!" Riley yelled.

"Riley it's only 18:37." Huey stated.

"So now?! I don't give a fuck! Where them hoes at? Hiro!" Riley yelled once again.

"Riley relax!" stated coming from the passage.

"Whatever nigga! Where the munchies at?" Riley said heading towards the fridge.

Huey shook his head and gave Hiro and Caesar dap. Ming had just finished locking the door and headed to the foyer, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw Huey. Huey wore a navy and white horizontally stripped jumper, basic denim jeans and classic Timberlands with a nice watch. It was so simple but so amazing on his frame.

"Freeman" she greeted Huey.

"Ming" he greeted back.

"You look good" she complimented Huey with a smile.

"Thanks" he said in return.

"Ugh, where's Jazmine?" she asked trying to stir up a different topic.

"At Cindy's. They all got ready together over there" he answered.

"Cute! I thought you don't like parties" Ming said.

"I don't" he stated.

"Then why are you here?"

"Don't you want me here?" he asked sounding offended.

"N-no, I-it's not that, it's just—"Ming stuttered.

"The bitches are heeeeeeeere!" Cindy exclaimed from the door frame.

Huey sighed with his eyes closed, "Why would you downgrade yourself to a female dog-" he said, but stopped as soon as he saw Jazmine DuBois next to her.

'Damn' Huey thought as he checked out his friend.

Jazmine started blushing under his gaze and diverted her eyes somewhere else. Jazmine wore her dress with the cute boots she bought. She made her hair up in a high bushy pony so she could show off the back of the dress. She wore plain bronze hoops and bangles with an emerald ring on her middle finger. The only make-up she wore was clear lip-gloss.

"…You look nice." He complimented Jazmine, Ming looks hurt by this for a second but then distracts herself by approaching Skylar and Cindy.

"Thanks, you too" she says in return.

"Ugh, halloooo? Sexy bitches are over here too!" Cindy said pointing to herself. Cindy put her hair in a slick back flowy ponytail so that her dress can be seen from all angles. She wore her dangerous heels, golden bracelets and heart shaped golden studded earrings. She wore mascara and winged eyeliner and pale pink lipstick.

"You guys look beautiful" Ming said kindly.

"You do too Ming" Skylar said appreciating the compliment. Skylar wore her dress with her grey Rubi shoes. She let hair down and wore chandelier looking dangling silver earrings. She wore ankle bracelets since there is already a lot going on around her torso. She wore mascara that made her eyes pop and red lipstick.

"The bitches are here!" Riley said approaching the girls.

"What it doooo!" Cindy said giving Riley dap and hugging him.

"Hey babe!" Caesar said to Cindy.

"Hey boo!" Cindy said pecking him on the cheek.

"Damn, you look stunning" Caesar said looking at Cindy up and down.

"Hehehe, I knoooow" Cindy dragged arrogantly.

By 19:32, the house gained a lot of people. Hiro played some mellow songs so the crowd could warm up. By 20:00 the house was banging with people.

"Wassup yal!" Hiro yelled into mic. Everyone screamed in reply. "A'ight, a'ight, a'ight! Yal know who I am! They call me H-Wire! Some of yal hommies from school call me Hiro. So I'm dedicating this party to my cousin Ming! She's new around here! She's the beautiful girl in the caret dress!" Hiro said and pointed to Ming, who was by the bar trying to cover her face.

"Now, everyone say 'Wassup Miiiing!'" Hiro commanded.

"WASSUP MIIIIING!" the crowd screamed.

"Hala at yo' girl! A'ight yal ready to get down?!" Hiro asked with the adrenaline streaming through his veins. Everyone screamed in response. "A'iiiiiight! To all of yal that are already holding shots, this songs to you! Enjoy the party yo'!" Hiro said as he started spinning the decks.

Before anyone knew it, Natalie La Rose - Somebody ft. Jeremih started playing.

"Oooooohh shiiiiitt!" Cindy screamed. "Jazz! It's your song girl!"

"No it's not!" Jazmine said in defence.

"Yes it is! I see you and your crew dance to that shit after practice! And it was your choreo wasn't it?" Cindy asked getting excited.

"Yes it was my choreo but still—"

"Jazmine!" a girl screamed walking up to Jazmine with two other girls.

"Aaliyah! Hey!" Jazmine greeted bubbly.

"Hey girl! Do you hear what's playing?" Aaliyah said with a knowing smirk.

"Aaliyah c'mon—"

"Celeste, Yaz and I really wanna get down!" Aaliyah exclaimed.

"Guys I'm wearing a dress and heels!" Jazmine exclaimed completely surprised at her teammates' energy to dance.

"Jazmine when has that ever stopped you?" Yaz asked chuckling a bit.

"You gotta dance with us! You did the choreo anyways!" Celeste chimed.

Cindy just smirked at her best friend folding her arms.

"…Okay okay! Let's go" Jazmine said giving up and going with her flow. Good thing she wore hugging shorts under her dress so she didn't flash anyone.

"Yeah! This way chicka!" Aaliyah said dragging Jazmine to the dance floor. They started getting into the heat of the song.

By the time Natalie's first verse came, the girls were already getting into stance ready to break it down. When they finally were in stance, they were just in time. They did freeze poses and jumped into arm work and then shifted into their mini dougie. They continued with a joker shimmy and then moved back into flowing and arm work. They carried on with different moves until they came to the beat just before the chorus. By the chorus a lot of leg work was done by semi rejecting and jumping into the chorus. When it came, everyone went crazy as they jived to the chorus. They closed as Natalie's second verse started and broke into freestyle. The crowd went insane.

"How the hell was she able to do that shit in heels?!" some guy in the crowd screamed.

"I know right?! I would have bailed a long ass time ago!" a girl said in reply.

"Go Jazmine!" Skylar and Cindy screamed for their friend.

Jazmine was in her element, she couldn't stop dancing. Her groove was on the real as she kept killing it even though she was in a dress and heels. Jasmine's heart was on the floor and she was letting everyone know. One thing for sure, she attracted a lot of people.

"That's right girl! Show dhem niggas!" another girl shouted.

"Get down girl!" a thirsty guy shouted as well.

"Damn! That girl is fire! Who is she?" a guy asked.

"Jazmine DuBois. Head of Dancing at Woodcrest High" someone said.

"How do you know, Ace?" the guy asked.

"Corbin, I have hommies over there" Ace replied.

"I'm hunting that girl down tonight!" Corbin said with determination.

"Whatever man, I just need to talk to her!" Ace said giving Corbin dap. However, they were dumb enough to talk about all of this in front of Huey. Therefore, Huey knew exactly who he's hunting down tonight as well.

After Jazmine came down form her moment, she walked off the dancefloor with an applause following her.

"That was my home girl Jazmine DuBois! Choreographed by hers truly!" Hiro screamed into the mic.

"What?!" some people screamed out of shock.

"That's right yal! She's a prodigy!" Hiro said confidently.

Jazmine went to go get herself a drink a went to hang with Caesar and Skylar. Skylar gave Jazmine the biggest hug when she came to them "Jazmine you were fire!" Skylar squealed.

"Thank you!" Jazmine said still feeling confident. "Where's the rest of the crew?"

"We don't know, but apparently Riley's macking on girls and Cindy went to go get shots. Huey's who knows where." Caesar answered.

Jazmine shrugged as approval and starting drinking her lemonade.

"I'm back bitcheees! And Jazz! I got someone here for you to meet!" Cindy said with a wide smile.

"Really? Who?" Jazmine asked curious.

"Hey Jazmine. How are you?"

"I'm amazing and yourself?" Jazmine answered kindly.

"I'm great" the person said with a smile.

"Jazmine, this is my friend Ace" Cindy stated confidently.

"Hi Ace" Jazmine said once more.

"Pleasure to meet you." He said with this beautiful smile.

"Like wise" Jazmine said with a smile as beautiful as his.

"Ace here, has something he wants to talk to you about." Cindy said. Jasmine knew Cindy wasn't setting her up, because she already knew the Huey story.

"Join me to the back yard?" Ace asked.

"Ugh, sure" Jazmine replied.

As they exited the house, Jazmine was feeling a bit nervous because she has no clue what this boy wants from her.

"So, Jazmine" he said.

"Yes?"

"Has dancing always been your passion?"

"Definitely" she answered with sparkles in her eyes.

"I could see by the way you danced not too long ago. May I give you an offer?"

"Depends" Jazmine says hesitantly.

"My dad own a dance studio and I'm a dancer myself. Therefore, in your free time, would you like to seek an internship at our studio?" Ace asked.

Jazmine gasped. She couldn't believe it! She finally had a chance to do something she adored. "O-oh my gosh! Y-yes! Yes!" Jazmine said now completely happy. "Thank you!" Jazmine said hugging Ace.

"You're welcome" he chuckled.

Click!

"Huh? Did you hear something?" Jazmine asked.

"Kind of. Must be the birds or something. Wanna go back inside?" Ace offered.

"Yeah, I feel like dancing all over again!" she said still as happy as she's ever been.

When Cindy saw her, she already knew what happened. "I'm guessing you said yes?"

"YES!" Jazmine squealed.

Cindy laughed and hugged her friend congratulations.

By the kitchen…

Huey's phone buzzed, which meant he received a message. He unlocked his phone and saw something that did not bode well with his heart.

From: 555-0409

How cute are they? #Lovebirds

-Attachment-

Huey looked at the message. He started breathing heavily and fumed his way to the front door.

"Huey! Huey! Guess what just happened to me?" Jazmine said getting excited to tell Huey the news.

"I don't want to hear it." He replied spitefully.

"Huh? Why?" Jazmine asked confused.

"Why don't you go ask your new 'friend'?" he growled.

"Huey Freeman, are you growling at me?" she asked shocked.

Huey didn't say anything more as he exited Hiro's house.

"Wha-what just happened?" Jazmine asked feeling a bit teary.

* * *

Author's Note: Songs: King Kunta – Kendrick Lamar , Somebody – Natalie Le Rose ft. Jeremih

Choreography: Matt Stefanina - NatalieLaRose ft Jeremih Dance | MattSteffanina Choreography

*Images of new characters are used to give you a general idea of what they look like. New characters aren't permanent. They're here for tweaks :) Remember, links are in my bio :)


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Yoooooooh Guys! I would like to apologise AGAIN for the long wait. I've been having exams so I never had the time. I'm basically done now and I'll be on holiday soon so updates will be more frequent. I also want to sat thank you for all the good reviews :) The more amazing reviews the more I get inspired to write, honestly. So here's a long ass chapter and I will update in three days, five days max.

Ie - 'No' in Japanese

* * *

Chapter Seven: Weakness

Huey stormed out of Hiro's house and paced his way to Dorothy. He didn't understand. Why was Jazmine hugging another guy? Why would she? Did their kisses mean nothing to her? What the hell? Is Jazmine playing him? Wait… why would he think she was playing—

"Freeman!" Ming shouted from the gate.

Huey turned around swiftly to see who was calling him. "Ming, what do you want?"

"What I want to know is why you're storming out of my welcoming party" she said with an arrogant smirk.

"Not now."

"Freeman…?" Ming said.

"I just got updated on news that I did not need to know about" Huey stated.

"You mean between Jazmine and Ace?'

"I don't want to know that punkass' name!" Huey shouted.

This made Ming jump a bit, because it is not every day that you hear Huey raise his voice. Captain composure had finally cracked.

"Huey, it was obvious that they were getting comfortable" Ming said bluntly.

Huey did not reply. Instead, he clenched his jaw and started diverging his eyes to places where he could possibly find a distraction.

"It's clear that her getting comfy is just making you more uncomfortable." Ming said. Huey still did not speak. "Huey, if you need someone to talk to—"

"Ming, what are you doing?" Huey asked as he saw Ming putting her hands on his biceps and coming too close to him for his comfort.

"What do you want me to do?" Ming asked.

"Ming, you can't be serious" Huey asked surprised understanding what she was doing. "No."

"Let me speak."

Huey crossed his arms, "Go on."

"Ever since I moved into Woodcrest, I've been able to make changes. I'm not as feisty and rude as I was in my childhood and I've actually made friends. Another thing that changed was my heart, because of you Huey. Your have made my mind go all stupid and it's pissing me off. A lot. So please, can we try?" Ming asked looking up to Huey with her beautiful dark blue eyes.

Huey did not do much. He just stood there, still with his arms crossed and breathing normally. And then he answered, "No."

"Shit, Huey. Is that it?" Ming asked with complete shock in her eyes and her face now glum.

"Yes. I'm not interested."

"It's her, isn't it?"

"Who's her?" Huey asked a bit confused, but seemed to understand who she was talking about.

"Jazmine, Huey! I'm not dumb! Every time she's around you ignore me and do stuff differently with her than how you would with me! Was me sending that picture not enough for—"

"What?" Huey asked now looking Ming dead in the eye with his eyebrows furrowed more than usual.

"I meant—"

"Are you fucking kidding me Ming?" Huey asked very disappointed. "Now that I question it, was she really even doing anything significant with that guy?"

"Huey you don't know that!" Ming asked now scared for her friendship with Huey.

"Ming, you need to compose yourself, look at your dumb ass actions and check your personality, because you're becoming way bitchier than how you were ten years ago. You might have become kinder somehow, but you're still acting as that immature girl that lies and turns on other people to get what she wants. You know what we call people like that here? Two-faced."

Ming just stood there stunned with her eyes wide open and her eyebrows raised. After letting all of Huey's words sink in, it stung like a bitch. Right now she wanted to deck Huey Freeman in the face.

"I'm going home, so I don't have to deal with you and any more stunts you had planned." Huey stated as he continued walking to Dorothy.

Ming stood still as she watched Huey get into the car, switch it on, and let the toxic fumes hit her face.

Back inside the Otomo's…

Hiro had out in a new mix of his on the deck so he could have some fun for once. Music is Hiro's passion, but a hommie also needs to get down. He spotted Jazmine just standing by the door as he got off the deck and started to get worried.

"Jazz, what's up?" Hiro asked putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Some stuff that I just don't understand just happened." Jazmine said, already knowing who's behind her.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked feeling bad for his friend.

Jazmine shook her head. "No, its okay don't worry about it."

Hiro wasn't taking Jazmine's dampened mood, so he spun her around and started shaking her a little. "Lighten up! You were killin' it just now on the dancefloor! C'mon, it sucks seeing you like this" Hiro said pulling Jazmine back to the floor.

She really did appreciate her friends. "You're such a weirdo and I love you for that" she said before lightly punching Hiro's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah! Now go with the flow" Hiro said as he starting doing the Shmurda on the dancefloor.

Jazmine followed his moves and not long after, the rest of the gang and some other strangers joined them on the floor.

After a couple of drinks, Riley was as drunk as a sailor. Riley was the flirtiest but funniest drunkard you could ever come across, and right now he was making a fool out of himself as he draped his arm over a random girl and started talking to her.

"Wassup, boo? You fine as hell" he said licking his lips.

The girl rolled her eyes and turned her head towards Riley. "Riley, you're drunk."

"Damn girl you know my name! Do you know what that does to my heart?"

"I don't wanna know" she said as she started chuckling.

"It makes my heart go BOOOOOOOOMMMMM…mmmmmmm…mmmmm" he dragged as he started smelling her "mmmmmm girl you smell like peaches" he said grabbing her waist. This made the girl and her friends laugh. "Do you wanna smell me?" he said lifting up his arm.

"OOOOOOKAAAAY! That's enough Reez" Cindy said interfering with Riley's attempt to woo a girl.

"C-Murph! What it do girl!" Riley said reaching out to hug her. Cindy caught him just in time and started laughing herself.

"Sorry Yanda" she said to the assaulted girl.

"It's cool. He's funny as hell. Keep your boy in check though" Yanda said with a smile.

"Gotcha" Cindy said with a wink before dragging her best friend outside. She figured he needed the fresh air.

"C-Murrrpppphhh… she smelled like peaches dawg what the hell?" Riley said as he put his head in her lap.

"You need to keep your wack job in check hommie" she said chuckling, which made her legs vibrate.

"Shhhhhh! Your legs are making noise! Make them keep quiet!" Riley exclaimed now scolding her thighs.

This just made Cindy laugh even more that she almost fell back. This made Riley laugh a bit as well. His true goofy yet slightly gangster laugh was finally out.

"You know, I miss that laugh. I don't get to hear it often. In fact, I don't get to see the real you lately. Why is that?" she said, now trying to take advantage of his drunken state.

"I just don't feel like myself" he said now comfortable on Cindy's thighs. Cindy was now rubbing and petting in between his braids.

"Why?"

"Emotions are a bitch, Cindy" he said now feeling a bit vulnerable.

"Riley, c'mon you have to give me more than that."

"Cindy, do you know how much I –"

"Yo'! The party is inside!" Skylar said approaching the duo.

"Oh, ugh, yeah! This punk is just wasted" Cindy said now trying to hide the emotion in her voice. She didn't know why, but she felt that Riley was going to say something really important. It just didn't settle right with her that she could only get this information out of him when he was either drunk or sleepy. She would like it if her best friend could spill his feelings more often with a sober body and mind. She has felt a change in their friendship. She feels as if he has been starting to distance himself from her and she did not like it one bit. She misses her best friend. She misses days where they could just park outside of school and play basketball because they felt like it. She hates that they don't have deep meaningful conversations anymore. In whole, she misses Riley Escobar Freeman. Everything has changed ever since the new school year began, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Skylaaaarr! Wha's poppin' girrrl?! You look fresh to death!" Riley slurred.

"Damn Reezy you reek of alcohol! How are you gonna get passed your grandfather?" Skylar said covering her nose. She might have a crush on the boy, but that is no excuse for him to smell like Southern Comfort.

"Man, shut yo' ass up! Speakin' of ass, girl have you seen yours? Would you by chance smell like peaches? I mean, you can smell like anything else but like, peaches are the shit right now bruh! SKYYYY!" he rambled on.

"Riley, I think it's time you went home" Skylar said in between her laughter.

"Reezy nigga!" Riley randomly shouted.

"Yeah, okay, I'll call your brother" Skylar initiated as she quickly went to another side of the house to find Huey.

Cindy just sighed at her previous thoughts and at her drunk friend. "You's a crazy nigga, fo'real." She chuckled.

"Cindy…" Riley started. There was something in his voice that frightened her a bit.

"Y-yeah?" she asked frozen in her spot.

"I care about you. You know that right?" he asked as he looked up at his long-time friend.

Cindy's breath hitched as she looked down at her friend. There was this sincerity in his eyes that just made her heart flutter, but then sink. She was confused, very confused. They stared at each other until Skylar came back.

"Apparently Huey went home. Should I ask Caesar to drop him?" she asked.

"Nah, Riley has to wait for Jazmine. Caesar lives a bit of a distance away from Riley and Huey. Gas ain't cheap." Cindy stated. "Yo' ass better be lucky that Jazmine brought her car and that she don't drink!" she yelled at Riley trying to bring back a friendly vibe after their encounter.

"A'iiiight" he dragged as he tried to pull himself together.

"I think he should chill out here until Jazmine's ready. It doesn't seem like she'll be taking long." Skylar said.

"Yeah, a'ight cool. Reezy, wanna chill out here for a bit?" Cindy asked.

"Yeaaah, I gotta make sure I don't look too messed up in front of Grandad." He said getting off of Cindy's lap and finding his own balance trying to sit by himself.

"Stay strong hommie. I'll call both you and Jazmine just in case, okay?" Cindy initiated kindly.

"Yeah, yeah" Riley said with a thumb up in the air while his head was between his knees trying to relax.

"Cool. Later Reez" Cindy said patting his back as she went inside with Skylar.

Back inside Hiro's …

Jazmine was enjoying herself dancing with her friends and some new ones, but every single time she wasn't distracted, her mind drifted to Huey and his irrational behaviour. Huey doesn't get angry without reason. Why was he being such an asshole all of a sudden? Is he playing her? Were her thoughts all wrong?

"Ey, Jazmine, you alright?" Ace asked while they danced.

"Yeah, I just have a lot on my mind." She answered.

"Care to share?" he politely offered.

"Nah not today" she kindly denied.

"Do you know what I do when I don't wanna think of depressing crap?"

"What?" she asked.

"Dance. Dance Jazmine! Let your body speak words that your mouth can't offer. Dance, Jazmine." Ace exclaimed.

Jazmine smiled at her new friend and dance partner. He seemed like a really laid back guy. She kind of already knew that he wasn't with her to mack on her, because Cindy wouldn't be dick enough to get another guy when she was still figuring out how to control her feelings for Huey. Especially since they kissed, twice!

After Jazmine heard Ace's words, she danced with her new found friend and the rest of the gang to some of the songs Hiro played. After a couple of minutes, Jazmine quickly went to the kitchen to fix herself a glass of water. She bumped into Ming when she got there.

"Oh, hey Ming" Jazmine said casually. She might not like her, but there was no way in hell that she was going to allow Ming to see her emotions or act like a bitch. Jazmine doesn't act like that unless it is really necessary.

"Hi." Ming greeted bluntly as she walked passed Jazmine.

'Uhm, okay?' Jazmine thought as Ming flew passed her with very little acknowledgement. What happened to her being super annoying, clingy, and bubbly with her? Does this girl have an emotional disorder or something? Because her attitude changed in a minute. Jazmine however did not ponder it for long though. As she finished off her cup of water, she saw a cute boy with brunette hair and blue eyes walk up to her.

"Hey, Jazmine. Jazmine DuBois, right?" he asked kindly.

"Ugh, yes, can I help you?" she asked a little taken aback from this boy. It did not change the fact that he was handsome though. His eyes were a very vibrant blue and had flawless skin as well as pearly white teeth to show when he smiled.

"The name's Corbin" he stated letting out his fist for a fist pump. Jazmine quickly returned it.

"Nice to meet you Corbin. How do you know me?"

'Damn, she's so cute" Corbin thought as she spoke. "Oh, I'm one of Ace's closest friends. We go way back. I think five years or more."

As much as this boy was trying to make pleasant conversation, it was not working because it only made her think of Huey even more now. 'Five years, huh? Try seven, but this time have a major crush on your best friend. Goodness, maybe even fall in love with him!' Jazmine as she tried very hard to listen to Corbin. They carried on like this for a couple of minutes until Skylar become her saviour and interrupted their conversation.

"Hey Jazz, has Cindy spoken to you about Riley?" she asked cutting into their conversation. This made Corbin frown and furrow his eyebrows. Skylar knew exactly what she was doing and therefore knew she was being very rude at the moment, but she knew this benefited both Jazmine and her.

"Ugh, no?"

"Well, you have to drop him off home because he's wasted. Huey's already gone apparently and you're the only one going to your street."

'Why is Huey suddenly in every sentence?!' Jazmine thought. "Oh, sure! When does he wanna leave?"

"Whenever really, but preferably now though. I'm catching a ride with Yazz since she lives in Woodcrest Estate as well because Cindy's sleeping over at Caesar's." Skylar answered.

"Okay cool. Well, let me say my goodbye to everyone and I'll see you hopefully tomorrow. If not, Monday" Jazmine said as she hugged Skylar. "Bye Corbin! Nice to meet you" she said before leaving.

This left Corbin glaring at Skylar and Skylar smirking at Corbin. "Oh, honey, you weren't gonna get her anyways" Skylar said before walking away chuckling.

In Jazmine's Car…

Jazmine had said her farewells to all the new people and close people she knew at the party and collected Riley with the help of Caesar and Hiro. Right now, Riley was drooling on her back seat.

"Ew Riley! Close your mouth! You are definitely cleaning my car tomorrow." She said when she looked at her rear-view mirror.

"Pssshhhht! Bitch whatever!" Riley exclaimed as he threw random gang signs in the air. This made Jazmine chuckled.

"At least you've sobered up a bit. Here, drink this. It'll help by the time we reach home" she said as she got a water out from her cubby hole and threw it to Riley.

"Thanks, Jazz" he said as he started drinking the purified water.

Jazmine mentioned that it wasn't a problem and continued driving the rest of the way home. In fifteen to twenty minutes they were home. Riley was still quite hammered but not as bad as before. He was able to keep his mouth shut but his walking was still crap. Jasmine helped him across the road and knocked on the door. As she expected, Huey had answered the door. He must've stayed up for Riley for once.

"I believe this belongs to you." She said without giving Huey any eye contact. She was upset with him, but she was not going to give him the pleasure of knowing she was still very upset by his outburst.

Huey nodded as he took his brother with his right arm and Jazmine started leaving. As he was about to close the door, he finally spoke up.

"Jazmine." He called.

She stopped in her tracks but didn't turn around, because looking at him might make her sadder than she already is.

Huey dragged his hand down his face with his free hand as he tried to think of what to say. "Thanks ... for bringing him." Was all he said.

Jazmine nodded and still did not turn around. She was grateful that she got a thank you, but she wanted an apology. Yet, some things needed time and therefore let it go, for now. She carried on her way back to her house.

Saturday – The next day…

Riley woke up with the biggest hangover he had experienced yet.

"Uuuugh, shit" he said as he held his head up with his hand. His head was spinning and he didn't like it. He roughly knew what happened last night and he knew he had a blast.

He got out of bed and went to get ready for the day. After bathing and brushing his hair and teeth, he went to get dressed. Not bothering with his outfit of the day, he wore black basketball shorts, a baggy grey t-shirt and a pair of superman socks. He quickly went downstairs and immediately looked for the medicine cabinet.

As he took out the aspirin, he heard someone clearing their throat behind him. Not knowing whether it was Grandad or Huey, he stiffened. As he turned around, his stiffness faded away as relief hit his body when he saw it was his brother.

"You're an idiot" Huey said as he drank some orange juice while reading the newspaper.

Riley quickly got a glass of water and drank it within his pills before he went to get cereal. "Yeah, whatever" he said to his brother.

"How could you put Jazmine in that position Riley? She does not need to deal or stress with how your drunk ass should be getting home." Huey ranted.

"Ey, don't come here accusing me about troubling niggas. You's the punkass that basically shut the door in front of Jazmine's face." Riley said sternly and clearly. He could obviously see that he hit a nerve for Huey because he gave him that look. A look that showed that he had no comeback because Riley's right.

"Yeah you better shut the fuck up bitch. Don't ever accuse of that shit. I might've been drunk as fuck last night, but at least I didn't leave my best friend randomly without her knowing with the hell I'm so mad." Riley continued.

"Riley that's none of your bus—"

"Oh shut the fuck up with that 'none of your business' shit! Damn! Really Huey? Honestly, you can be a bigger dick than normal brah. Look, all I saw was you busy cussing her out and she was looking confused as hell. When you ran off like a bitch, she almost started crying like one. She cares Huey, she really does. The fact that she has heart to help me get home and sober up is a lot. She cares brah. She cares about all of us. It's your punkass self that doesn't acknowledge that shit. And when you don't or spit it in her face it hurts her big time"

"Riley, you know I care."

"Then act like it punk!" Riley said throwing and apple at his brother, which he easily avoided. "I want you to go over there and apologise to that girl. As much as it sounds odd nigga, I care for that girl too. She's my mulatto sister. Shit, I'm over here with a hangover and you're out here bitchin'." he muttered his last words as he carried on preparing breakfast for himself.

Huey hated it when Riley got all emotional and philosophical on him. It was one of the traits of Riley that really annoyed Huey, because once Riley starts talking about emotions, his points are always valid and leaves you feeling like crap. Apart from Riley's gangster façade, he was a really intelligent kid. He doesn't like flaunting his average B's and few C's because 'gangsters can't be smart'. That boy is going somewhere. He just needs to find the right path.

After Riley's psychology lesson, Huey felt like crap and therefore finished his breakfast and reading the newspaper before heading to Jazmine's.

At the DuBois'…

Jazmine had a much laid back morning. She didn't have a busy day at all today and therefore woke up and ate late. She still hadn't bathed and was busy watching a cartoon before she heard knocking on the door. Jazmine had her hair in a loose pony tail and wore the most baggy clothes as she wore grey pyjama pants that had baby pink hearts all over them and a white baggy t-shirt with the words 'I Woke Up Like This' in baby pink and her pair of glasses. Nobody really knew, but Jazmine actually wore glasses, but only at home since she wouldn't see anyone but her family. The only person that really teases her is Caesar by calling her four eyes whenever he comes over. When she opened the door, she was not expecting the person in front of her.

"You haven't bathed?" Huey asked with his one eyebrow raised.

"No" Jazmine answered plainly. There was nothing special about Huey seeing her this way because he's seen her like this too many times to count through the years, but he always found a way to criticize her.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because I'm not going anywhere, Huey. Now, I'm sure that there's a reason for your visit." She stated as she leaned against her doorframe.

"May I come in?" he asked politely. Huey Freeman may be an asshole, but he wasn't an asshole with no manners.

Jazmine nodded as she allowed him inside her home. Just as he entered, he was bombarded by Tom.

"Goooood morning, Huey! How'd you sleep! Good to see ya!" Tom exclaimed with that annoying laugh of his.

"Morning Tom." Huey greeted flatly, "I slept fine."

"Good! What brings you here?"

"Your daughter."

"Oh! Well, alright. Tell me if you need anything! I'll be in my study" he said to the teenagers as he went deeper into the household.

Huey and Jazmine nodded as they went to the living room.

"What on earth are you watching?" Huey asked with disgust.

"Adventure Time, Silly" she answered with a gleeful smile.

"This show has inappropriate themes. You shouldn't be watching it."

Jazmine sighed, "Huey, what do you want?" she asked getting irritated. It was tough acting normal around him after all of the events they've been through. Thankfully, it was the same for him.

"Well?" Jazmine asked growing impatient.

"I came to apologies for my actions last night." He stated.

"…And?" she asked, moving her hand around suggesting him to continue.

"...And I'm sorry I did it without telling you why and yelling at you in front of a lot of people" he said while looking down. He was not used to apologising.

"But why did you do it?" she asked curiously.

"Some idiot really got on my nerves" he started.

"Yeah, but who?"

"That punk with the green eyes and slick blonde hair" he ended.

"Oh Ace!" Jazmine exclaimed with excitement.

Huey cringed, "Yeah that punkass."

Jazmine could sense his unease. 'What's wrong with Ace?' she thought. "Well, that guy offered me a place in his father's dance studio. He saw me dancing at the party and he thought I deserved it. You know, before you started chirping me out I was about to tell that great news but you – ooooooooohhh…" Jazmine said as she realised her best friend's actions. She started to smirk at Huey. Huey noticed the way she was looking at him and started feeling uneasy.

"Jazmine why are you looking at me like that?" he asked as he started feeling more uncomfortable by the second.

"You, my friend, were jealous!" Jazmine exclaimed before she cracked out laughing. This didn't go well with Huey.

'Jealous?' he thought as he scolded Jazmine. "I was not jealous, Jazmine." He said trying to defend himself.

"Then why did you get so angry?" Jazmine with another cheesy smirk.

"Because I saw a picture of you two getting cosy" he blubbered getting fed up with Jazmine feeling a victory.

"Cosy?" she asked as her smirk dropped now getting confused. Huey took out his phone and showed her the picture of her and Ace hugging. "Oh, when I hugged him thank you for the offer. Huey he just broke the news to me. Do you really think I was not going to hug him after all of that?" she retorted.

"A handshake would have been fine" he said as his eyebrows furrowed even more. He could see Jazmine rolling her eyes behind her glasses.

Jazmine just gave Huey a look. A look that meant that he would be stupid to think Jazmine was not going to hug someone for doing that for her. Fed up with Huey's jealous words and actions, she got up off the couch. "I'm gonna go shower" she stated as she walked passed him.

However, Huey was quick to grab her wrist and pull her down onto his lap. "Huey c'mon" she whined now trying to wriggle out of his grasp. Huey was silent the whole time so that Jazmine could calm her ass down. Jazmine sighed and gave in. she quickly grabbed the remote and searched for CNN.

Huey inwardly smiled at her kind gesture. 'She really does care' he thought as she saw her trying to find a channel he likes. After finding a good channel, it dawned on him what position they were in. Jazmine didn't seem to notice yet but his cold heart fluttered at their position.

After some time Jazmine leaned back onto Huey and let her head rest on his shoulder. She was very comfortable as well. Without him seeing, she smiled and continued watching television with her crush. 'Huey was jealous. Huey was really...jealous' she thought as she felt butterflies in her stomach.

As Sarah was coming down the stairs, she saw her daughter and her best friend. She haulted and smiled, making sure her presence was not identified. Her smile as so big it was shocking it didn't break her face. She quickly headed to her husband's study and left the lovestruck teenagers alone.

At the Otomo's…

Hiro and Ming were busy cleaning up after last night's events. They must say, they were clever about things. They had made sure that all couches were covered, and that all valuable ornaments were hidden in their locked bedrooms. There just a lot of sweeping, dusting and mopping to do. There weren't many dishes, but that went into the dishwasher and just cleaning off counters. Redoing the house's furniture was the biggest hustle with only two bodies.

"No, my left" Hiro ordered his cousin as they held a sofa. "Ie Ming! I said my left!" he yelled now getting irritated with his cousin not listening to instructions. "Ugh, you know what, let me just call the gents and ask them to help."

"Ie!" she shouted. This caused Hiro to freeze for a moment and turn to his cousin. "Why? Caesar and Huey could really—"

"Don't call Huey." She said sternly.

This caused Hiro to raise one of his eyebrows. "Ming, what dumbass thing did you do this time?" he asked knowing his cousin way too well.

"It's complicated." She answered not wanting to discuss this with her cousin.

"Ming" he said a bit annoyed.

Ming just sighed and told Hiro about the events that occurred last night. Hiro, was not impressed, and therefore did not respond to her.

"Hiro, Hiro!" she exclaimed now getting anxious about his silence.

"Ming, you're an idiot!" he exclaimed disappointed in her. This took Ming by surprise, because Hiro does not just randomly insult people. "You know it's going to take you a damn long time to be in that guy's good books again. And you need to apologise to Jazmine too."

"I don't owe her anything!" Ming exclaimed, which showed her bitchy side.

"Ming, this is why you have no friends" he stated flatly.

"Maybe I don't need any." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. This caused Hiro to roll his eyes.

"You know what, this is a battle that you need to concur on your own. Don't come crying to me when shit gets real" he warned her. "Now help me with the damn sofa. Damnit Ming MY LEFT!"

At the Caesar's…

"Gooood Moooorniiing!" Anika exclaimed as she jumped on Cindy's bed.

"Ugh, Anni really?" Cindy said as she started chuckling at the child. "You have too much energy fo'real."

"Cindy it's 12:15! And it's a Saturday come ooooonnn!" Anika whined as she tried to pull Cindy out the blankets. Cindy started resisting her as she tried to bury her head in the guestroom pillows, but was then enchanted by a very nice aroma. "Anika, baby, what's that smell?" she asked the seven year old.

"It's Caesar's pancakes" Anika said just before Cindy jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen. "Now do you understand why I woke you?" she shouted towards Cindy as she ran to the kitchen. This just made Anika roll her eyes.

"I heard someone's making pancakes!" Cindy excalimed as she reached the kitchen. Caesar saw her and started laughing.

"Which one would you like? Blueberry, Chocolate or Strawberry?" he asked casually, but the ingredients he mentioned just caused Cindy's eyes to light up.

"All of them!" she squealed. This made Anika and Caesar to laugh. "So uhm, where's mom?"

"I'm right here baby" Samira answered from the tv room.

"Oh! Hey Mrs Caesar I didn't see you there" she said as she approached the beautiful woman.

"Don't worry about it honey, come sit right here and tell me what happened yesterday?" Samira asked initiating conversation. This carried out for about ten minutes before Caesar called out that brunch was served.

Everyone gathered around the table and started eating their hearts out. Cindy had to admit that this was one of her best relationships because she has never felt like home with such amazing people. Summer had done well for her. She was actually glad that everyone went their separate ways during summer or else she would not have had the opportunity to get to know Caesar and his family. However, there was this guilt that she felt in their relationship and she did not understand what it was and why it was there in the first place. Therefore, she ignored it and enjoyed the day with her boyfriend and his family.

She did hope that Riley went home safely with Jazmine and was not being the dumbass that he is. Although she did keep on thinking about what he said to her last night. 'Cindy, I care about you. You know that right?' he said to her. But care for her in what manner? It was easy to say a friend, but she felt like he meant something deeper, but it could just be her brain playing tricks on her so she shrugged it off for now. But, it still didn't change the fact that she was still a bit worried for him.

"Say, Caesar?" she asked him as they washed the dishes.

"What's good girl?" he replied.

"After we bath and whatever else, mind if we head over to Riley's? He was a drunk son of a bitch last night and I just wanna know that he's alright." She explained to her boyfriend.

Caesar deep down was not too fond of this because of the fact of the matter that today was supposed to be about the two of them, but he didn't want to seem like the clingy boyfriend so, "Yeah, sure" he answered as he rinsed a dish.

"Thank you" she said before kissing him on the cheek. He gave a slight smile but Cindy could tell it was as genuine as his others. 'Must just be tired'.

Back at the Freeman's…

Riley was busy playing Grand Theft Auto V in the tv room before he heard the doorbell ring. He rolled his eyes and groaned as he got up to answer the door. Grandad had already gone to the park with Uncle Rukus and Huey was still over at Jazmine's so he had no choice but to answer the door. As he opened the door, he was a bit surprised to who it was.

"Sup Reez" Skylar said as Riley opened the door.

"Sky? What you doing here?" he asked casually.

"What, I can't come over to a friend's?" she teased with a smile.

"Nah, nah it ain't that, it's just that I wasn't expecting you at all man" he answered rationally.

Skylar just smiled and understood his thoughts. "May I come in?" she asked politely.

"Yeah, sure" he replied as he shifted to the side to let Skylar in. She was dressed very laid back today with a pair of ruby coloured sweat pants and a black tank top with a peace sign on it in yellow with an old pair of white Levis shoes.

"Thirsty?" he asked as he headed to the kitchen.

"Yeah" she said to him.

"Here" he said as he got out a lemonade flavoured Snapple bottle for her and himself.

"Thanks. Oh I see you got GTA V! May I play?" she asked as she sat down on the floor and took the controller.

'This bitch knows GTA?' Riley thought taken by surprise. "Ugh, yeah whatever."

"I wanna be Trevor" she said with a chuckle. Riley joined her on the couch and watched her play, and damn this girl has skill. He finally knew the true meaning of the saying 'never judge a book by it's cover'.

After a lot of GTA, they swapped over to NBA 2K15 and later FIFA15. Riley had to admit that he was really enjoying himself around Skylar. She really was not as bad as he thought in the beginning. He was really comfortable around her and it seemed that she felt the same way.

"Ey! My X button ain't working'!" he yelled as he saw that Skylar was winning 2-0.

"It don't change the fact that I'm beating yo' ass!" she said before she started laughing.

"You cheatin'!" he yelled.

"That's a lie!" she yelled back.

"Sky why you cheatin!" Riley exclaimed.

Riley kept on fiddling with his controller but it was not helping at all.

"Score bitch! Woooooh!" Skylar screamed and she jumped up and started break dancing like an idiot.

"Man, whatever!" This caused the both of them to laugh and chill out for a bit. "You know, you a'ight man" Riley said before giving Skylar dap.

"Told you I wasn't that big of a bitch" she said as she slightly pushed him. They hung out a bit more until 14:37 came and another ring came from the doorbell.

"I'll get it, put on Call of Duty while I'm at it" Skylar said as she went to the door. When she opened she saw her cousin.

"Hey Cuz!" Skylar said before she hugged Cindy.

"Sky what you doin here?" Cindy asked stunned.

"Why is everyone saying that?" Skylar said before rolling her eyes.

"It's not every day we see you at the Freeman's."

"Yeah well they my friends too" she teased as she let her and Caesar in. she saw an unhappiness on Caesar's face and therefore frowned a bit. "Ceez, what's up?"

Caesar was shocked that Skylar was able to identify his discomfort. "Oh, don't worry Sky" he said with a weak smile. Skylar just gave him a look and crossed her arms. She didn't bug him much because she could see that he really did not want to talk about it.

Cindy quickly asked if Riley was alright after last night and started joining the trio in game playing.

Skylar laid back for a while so that Cindy and Riley could play and went to join Caesar on the couch.

"So are you gonna tell me?" she asked Caesar again.

He was silent.

She rolled her eyes, "The more you hide the, the more obvious your emotions can be seen Ceez. It doesn't have to be me, but you gotta tell someone that there's something wrong." She said with a reassuring smile.

Caesar smiled and nodded. He really appreciated this Bronx girl. The only problem now is how he is going to let his feelings out to the Woodcrest one. He looked at Riley and Cindy. He smiled, but frowned unknowingly afterwards. 'This is gonna be a long ass day' he thought as he hung out with part of the crew.

* * *

Author's Note: Hope yal enjoyed! Will update soon, but reviews also have an impact on when I should update. See you all on the flip side! - Elle


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own The Boondocks

Enjoy Chapter 8!

* * *

Chapter Eight: Interruptions

It was currently 17:15 at the Boondocks residence and Caesar was getting aggravated. Being the kind person he is, he slid out of the household unnoticed. As he got out of the house, he could see Jazmine and Huey exiting the DuBois residence. He smiled at the duo. He has known for a very long time that Huey liked Jazmine. Caesar was Huey's best friend after all. He could notice things about the boy that he could never notice himself. Huey never admitted to anyone that he likes Jazmine, and that can simply be because he has not noticed himself. Observing the way he changed around her was good enough to see that he was whipped by the girl.

"Oh, hey, Ceez!" Jazmine exclaimed as she approached her friend. She had finally bathed and was now in a pair of black yoga pants and a plain blue t-shirt with her hair tied back. Surprisingly, she still had her glasses on. She also wore a pair of grey bunny slippers.

"Hey Four-Eyes" Caesar teased with a chuckle. This just made Jazmine chuckle as well.

"Where are you off to?" she asked with that kind smile that made everyone's heart melt.

"Nowhere special" he said to get attention away from him and quickly went to give his best friend dap, "What's good brother?"

"Not a lot. What about your side?" Huey responded. There was something about his best friend that he could not put his finger on, but he knew it was not anything good. However, he left it for the time being.

"It's a'ight" Caesar replied. This made Huey raise his eyebrow. 'Since when does Caesar say 'a'ight'?' Huey thought when he listened to his friend attentively.

"Ugh, okay, well we're going back to my house. Come back when you're ready hommie." Huey said to him before he gave him dap.

Caesar gave Huey dap and went over to hug Jazmine. She returned it gladly, but as they hugged she looked over to Huey and mouthed "Jealous?" at him. This made Huey roll his eyes at her foolish behaviour, but Jazmine just laughed at him. She still couldn't believe it. Huey Percival Freeman was jealous!

As the duo went inside the Freeman's household, Caesar went on a walk around the neighbourhood. Why was he acting this way? Caesar never acts out the way he did today. He also never hid his emotions. He never dances around his feelings. When he feels something wrong or right, he is very quick to express them. He has been that way ever since he was born, but for some reason today was odd. He never cared if his feelings were embarrassing or made him look like a pussy, because Michael knew who he was and was not going to change that for anyone.

While he was walking around the neighbourhood, he had not realised that he had walked such a distance because he was now at Fairview Street, where Hiro lived. He thought a pit sop to his place would do the trick to distract him from his emotions. As he knocked on the door, he heard voices yelling at each other. Since he could already take a hint that Hiro and Ming were in one of their cousin debates, he decided to let himself in.

"Yo', what are you guys fighting about this time?" Caesar asked as he walked to the living room. The house immediately fell silent. As Caesar continued his journey to the living room, he saw that Hiro and Ming were on the couch watching 'Scandal'.

"Ceez! What's up man what are you doing here?" Hiro exclaimed as he jumped off the couch to go and attack his friend.

Caesar however just missed his friend's attack. He was not in the mood for being all funny and giddy right now. "Sup, brother" he greeted Hiro while his face was buried in his living room rug.

Hiro just shook his head as he got up. He quickly dusted himself off as he went over to his friend and gave him basic dap. "Just arguing with Ming again."

"Yeah, I could tell from the racket I could hear from outside." Caesar chuckled.

"Hiro thinks that Fitz and Olivia are a crappy couple!" Ming exclaimed.

"Ming! Jake and Olivia were the ultimate couple!" Hiro fought back.

"Ie, Hiro! Fitz has loved her since day one!"

"No! He just wants her booty because she helped him get elected! The bitch must go back to Melly!"

"Hiro, it was fate!"

"Don't start with that fate shit! He's just a horny nigga that wants a freaky side hoe! Admit it Ming, Olivia's a freak. She just hides it well."

"Fitz is a freak too! Plus, Jake and Olivia would have never gotten together if it wasn't for Fitz! Fitz! Fitz, Hiro!"

"Oooooooh ma gosh! Damn!" Caesar yelled on top of both of them "Would yal calm the hell down? Yal are getting excited over couples? Damn Hiro, when did you get soft?"

"Ey! Not everyone can have a relationship like you and Cindy where it's all perfect" Hiro teased, but it seemed as if today was not the right day for that. Hiro saw Caesar cringe at his statement.

"Ugh, yeah" Caesar replied trying to play it cool.

Hiro furrowed his eyebrows. "Ceez, what's going on?" Hiro asked getting a bit worried for his friend.

"Nothing man, damn" Caesar stated almost sounding more suspicious than needed. Thank goodness Hiro didn't catch it. However, Hiro did squint at him for a second too long.

"Hiro, you're freaking me out! Chill!" Caesar exclaimed.

Hiro lifted his hands up as if to surrender. "Okay, okay!"

"Hey Caesar" Ming greeted after a while.

"Hey Ming" Caesar greeted kindly. "Have you gotten your boo yet?" he asked winking at Ming, but it seemed that he was not the only one having a bad day. Ming just frowned and shook her headed slightly. Caesar just nodded, because he could tell she was not ready to talk about it. As much as he was good with his own feelings, he has mastered to read other people's feelings and body language as well.

It was almost 18:00 so Caesar decided to leave the restless cousins alone for the day. He bid his farewells to Ming and Hiro and continued his walk. He decided to go to the park close by Woodcrest Estates. That way he would not be able to bump into Rukus or Robert. He sat on a swing and started to get deep into his thoughts. He did not understand why he was acting the way he was all of a sudden. At first he thought Cindy's new attitude was just because school started again, but now he could tell it was because everyone came back after summer. Were him and Cindy's relationship a summer fling? This did not bode well with Caesar. He introduced her to his family, and they love her. He can't give up yet. He does not just bring any random girl home because he feels like it. He has genuine feelings for her.

Caesar's heart started to sink a bit at the thought of a break up. He was really hoping for a serious relationship with Cindy. Today they were supposed to go out for ice-cream and chill at the park, but right now he was sitting on a swing with the oxygen of the earth as his accomplice. He knew he should not be doubting her so much, but he couldn't help it. He thinks she does not care for him the way he cares for her. He was somehow glad that he had not told her he loved her yet or anything, but he was close to. He hung his head down as he swung slightly. His beautiful braids falling over his shoulders and framing his masculine, but gentle face. He closed his eyes and started thinking deeper. He has no intention of stringing Cindy away from our friends, but he wants to be thought about as well. He wants Cindy to ask how his day was, to check if he was alright. She has not done that yet. She usually only does that if she can see it at the moment. Does she think about him when she gets home? Is he constantly on her mind like how she is? Woah, Michael Caesar was falling hard for—

"CAESAR!" a voice shrieked.

This caused Caesar to lift his head up and stiffen his body so quickly that he fell backwards off the swing onto the mildly cold autumn grass.

"CAESAR! GOD DAMNIT CAESAR!" the voice continued. Caesar wanted to reply but he was still recovering from his hard ass fall. Before he could take in his surroundings, he heard footsteps growing louder as the person approached him in a hurry. He then felt weight on his stomach as his focus came back. He focused on the body on top of him and realised who it was.

"Cindy? What the fuck? You scared the shit out of me" he said in disbelief.

"I scared the shit out of you? I SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF YOU?! YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME CAESAR! Where the hell have you been?! Two hours? Two fucking hours of you disappearing without ANYONE knowing! I had to call Hiro and Ming and ask where you might be! They told me you took a pit stop at their crib and then left! Caesar, what were you thinking?" Cindy said as she shook Caesars shoulders and showering his face with her tears.

"Cindy, why would you care?" Caesar finally burst.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Today was supposed to be about us, Cindy. US! But you decided to drift away again! You've been doing this ever since we came back to school. You've treated me differently. It's as if you don't care about me anymore. It took you two hours to find me and get scared, so what? You've been doing it for two weeks, it's nothing special." Caesar said as his voice broke. He's never broken like this in front of Cindy before.

"Caesar…"

"No, don't." he said as he lifted his back off the floor and put his hands on his sides to balance himself.

"Is that how you've been feeling?"

"I just told you that! Why don't you just go hang around with the crew."

"Why haven't you told me this?" she asked in disbelief.

"Because I don't want to be that picky boyfriend that drags you away from your friends. I don't want it to seem like you have to choose or some other crap. So I left it."

At this point, Cindy grabbed Caesar's face and made him look at her. For the first time in a while, Cindy could read Caesar like a book, because his eyes were telling the story. There was so much hurt in those stunning chocolate eyes. She could also see the rim of tears on his eyelids. This tore her in two.

"Caesar, don't ever be scared to tell me how you feel. I'm so sorry that I've been ignoring you and I'm so sorry it took me so long to figure it out. Caesar, I care about you, okay? I really am sorry that I haven't been showing it." She said as she started wiping Caesar's tears away with her manicured thumbs and caressed his face.

"I'm sorry" she whispered as she pressed her forehead against his.

"Me too" he whispered back as he wrapped his arms around her and then put his head on her shoulder and gave her the most heart filled hug. She returned it gladly.

As he lifted his head and looked into her ocean blue eyes, Caesar knew that there was still hope, and that this burn was just a bump they needed to jump to take their relationship further. He gave her a smile that made her heart melt. She was now in his lap with her arms around his neck while his arms were still wrapped snuggly around her waist and he still sat on the cold ground.

Cindy returned the smile and started looking at his lips. Those beautiful, soft lips. Caesar could tell she was staring and he wasted no time to lock her lips on his own. For the first time in a while, they exchanged such a passionate, heartfelt kiss. Cindy glided her tongue over his bottom lip to ask for entrance. Caesar smiled into the kiss and opened his mouth to give Cindy what she wished. Their lips were now fighting for dominance and it seemed that Caesar was winning. He took hold of her bottom lip with his teeth and gently nibbled on it and sucked it. This awarded Caesar with a moan from Cindy. This made him chuckle a bit as he went back to kissing Cindy's now very pouty lips. Cindy chuckled as well as she went to attack his neck. She glazed her pink tongue against his chocolate neck and started kissing and biting it. This got a groan from Caesar as well, before he pulled back.

"Woah, woah woah woah" he breathed out to Cindy.

"What?" she giggled as she went back to his neck and slowly to his ear.

"Cindy, we're in a park. Chill out" he chuckled.

"Mmm-hmm" she replied as she nibbled and sucked on his earlobe.

This made him inhale sharply. "Cindy, woah girl!" he breathed out as he pulled her away from him and made sure she was arm's length away.

"Baby, that's not nice" she said as she pouted her now very rosy lips.

This made Caesar laugh and give her a quick kiss on the cheek as he shifted her to the side and started standing up.

"You need to control yourself" he stated as he shook his head. As he stood firm on the ground he let out his hand to help Cindy up.

"I can't when I'm around you" she teased as she stood up and leaned towards him.

He chuckled once more before lifting her up and swinging her to his back. "You little nasty."

They both started laughing as they walked back to Caesar's, which was gladly only a fifteen to twenty minute walk.

"Let's make pizza tonight!" she exclaimed from Caesar's back.

"Sure, just don't mess up the dough this time" he teased.

"That was one time! Baking soda and flour look very similar!" she exclaimed.

At the Freeman's…

Jazmine was leaning against Huey's arm as they watched Riley and Skylar play Tekken 7. She was looking at the duo before she felt her phone vibrate. It was a text from Cindy.

Cindy:

Found him. We went back to his crib so don't worry about us. :)

Jazmine smiled at the text message. She was glad that she found Caesar because everyone was worried sick about him. It's not every day that Caesar wonders out of your sight.

"Power-up bitch!" Riley shouted as he made his fighter reach full power.

"Ahhh shit!" Skylar exclaimed fighting with her controller. She was determined to win this battle.

"Get ready to die bitch!" Riley exclaimed as he was pressing all necessary buttons to attack Skylar.

"Noooo!" she yelled as she saw that Riley could just beat her.

Riley's fighter had struck Skylar's right out. "Dead! Haha! You dead bitch! Hahahahah!" Riley laughed arrogantly as he jumped up and started booty dancing in the middle of the room. "Booty dance, I'm booty dancin'! Booty dance, I'm booty dancin'!" Riley exclaimed.

Skylar and Jazmine burst out into laughter at the younger Freeman's foolishness. Huey just shook his head at his stupidity.

"Riley, sit your ass down" Huey ordered.

"Not now nigga! I'm still celebratin'!" Riley replied as he carried on dancing. The girls' laughter was now more settled.

Jazmine got up and walked to the kitchen. "Jazz, what you doing over there?" Skylar asked as she saw Jazmine in the kitchen.

"Starting dinner! It's 19:24 and Mr Freeman will be hungry when he gets back." Jazmine replied casually as if she lived here.

"Grandad's on a date Jazz" Riley cut in.

"Well I bet you guys are still hungry." Jazmine defended.

"Ey! Don't sweat it I'll order take-outs." Skylar said as she pulled out her cell phone.

"Oh, Skye don't worry about it" Jazmine said trying to kindly deny her friend's offer.

"Jazmine, don't you dare. I'm ordering whether you like it or not. You know, sometimes you just gotta accept offers" Skylar said understanding what Jazmine was trying to accomplish.

"Ugh, okay" Jazmine chuckled as she put a pot back into the cabinet and walked back into the living room. She went back to her original place next to Huey as Skylar dialled for take-outs.

Everyone was really warming up to Skylar. She was not trying to buy anyone's friendship and she was genuinely a nice person with good tendencies. Huey gained a bit of respect for Skylar after she lashed out at him for yelling at Cindy because he was angry at Jazmine. It showed him that she would stand up for anyone that got in the way of family and friends. She was not afraid to lash out things if they really needed to be said. Therefore, if someone was giving him crap, he would know who would be quick to defend him apart from the rest of the crew. Skylar was a treasure to keep and the squad was not going to pass up on this jewel.

"Dragon Express, how may I help you?" the lady on the phone said.

"Good Evening! I would like to have a delivery. Is that possible?" Skylar asked in the most sophisticated manner. This got looks from Jazmine, Huey and Riley.

"Of course, what would you like to order?"

Skylar gave everyone a look to ask what they'd like. Riley was the first to spill. "Barbeque Spare Ribs! I'm hungry as shit!"

"May I please have Chicken & Mixed Vegetables?" Jazmine asked sweetly.

Skylar then looked at Huey, who just shook his head. Skylar furrowed her brows at this. Jazmine then put her hand on Huey's shoulder and shook her head as well. Skylar understood and just shrugged her shoulders.

She then voiced out everyone's orders to the lady on the phone. While she did this, Jazmine took out her phone and dialled a number.

"Hey Jenn!" Jazmine exclaimed to the phone. Huey turned towards her wondering who she was calling.

"I'm good and yourself? That's cool. Oh I just wanna order a Veggie Delite Sub, please? Thank you! Bye" Jazmine said as she concluded her conversation on the phone. By this time Huey was frowning at her. "What?"

"Jazmine, really?"

"You're a vegetarian Huey. Deal with it" Jazmine said as she rolled her eyes. Sometimes Huey just needed to understand that people will actually want to buy things for him.

"…Thanks" he said looking away from Jazmine. This made Jazmine smile. He was slowly becoming more open.

"Pleasure" she said with that adorable sweetness in her voice. Jazmine thinks that it was their kisses were the reason, but she feels that she and Huey have gotten closer. They're more comfortable around each other and they're opening up to each other more, especially Huey. They are both changing for the better.

After Skylar and Jazmine made their orders, they all had pleasant conversation as they waited for their food to be delivered. It is not every day where the squad can really just sit down and talk. They do that at school, but it was never as deep as it was to be laying back on a couch and really getting to know each other more. A great example was how Skylar found out that Riley was an artist.

"Would you be able to draw me?" Skylar asked in awe.

"Yeah. Just tell me when you wanna and I'm down for it" Riley said with a shrug. He was really starting to like this girl. His first thoughts about were long gone as they sat down and got to know each other more. Riley found out that Skylar used to be one of her old school's most talented football players. He also found out that she was actually into photography.

"So, if I paint or draw a picture of you, do I get to have a free photoshoot?" he teased as he pushed Skylar ever so slightly. This made her laugh. 'She's kinda pretty too' Riley thought as he saw her laugh with such a genuine smile of her face. Her sandy hair fell around her shoulders and back as she laughed. She really did look a lot like Cindy, but not that much. She was not as ghetto as her cousin and she had slightly softer features.

Obvious differences between the two were eyes and hair, but if you scrutinize them, Skylar was also a bit tanner than Cindy. Her jawline was not as defined as Cindy's and she was a bit more curvaceous than her as well. Cindy was a lot muscular than Skylar. They were both athletic, but Skylar was a bit thicker around the hips and thighs. That did not bother Riley one bit though. One thing that both cousins have in common is that if you tip them off the iceberg, their ratchet and violent side comes out.

Huey raised an eyebrow as he took note of the exchanges that were happening between the two. It was not every day that Riley can really be his goofy self around people. He only does that in front of Huey, Cindy or Jazmine. Jazmine looked at Huey as he still looked at the duo and could not help but notice their actions as well. Before they could go any deeper into investigation, the doorbell rang. Huey stood to go answer it.

"Who is it?" he asked through the door.

"Dragon Express!" the voice said from the other side of the door. Huey jerked his head towards Jazmine, which told her to look outside the window to see if the person was not playing any games. Ever since the crazy things that happen in the Freeman residence, Huey is a lot stricter. Jazmine nodded her head in approval before Huey reached his hand towards the doorknob.

"Evening! Is this 16 Timid Deer Lane?" a petite girl asked.

"Yes." Huey answered plainly. The girl started to voice out the orders to make sure that they were what they ordered. Huey nodded in approval.

"My name's Veronika" she stated politely as she took money from Huey. Huey could already tell what this thirsty girl was doing and wasted no more time.

"That's nice" was all Huey said before taking the food and closing the door on the girl.

"Huey!" was all Skylar and Jazmine shouted. Huey did not say anything as he casually walked to the kitchen with food as if he had not done anything even remotely rude. This made the girls chuckled while Riley stood up to help his brother in the kitchen.

Riley took out some plates and glasses while Huey was unravelling the packaging on the food. Riley laid the plates neatly in a line so it was not that much work for Huey as he puts them on a plate. Riley quickly poured everyone excluding Huey a glass of Sprite. Riley poured Huey water. Huey and Riley might fight a lot, but they unconsciously still help each other out. Huey looked at Riley and nodded at him. Riley returned it as they continued dishing up.

The doorbell rang again and Skylar was up to go answer it. Following what Huey did, she asked who it was and the person on the opposite end said that it was Subways. She turned to Jazmine to see she had already looked outside again and nodded her head in approval. It was impressive how observant and respectful Skylar was. She quickly paid the girl at the door and got Huey's sub.

After eating and listening to some music on Riley's speaker, it was 21:47. Skylar helped Jazmine with the dishes before she grabbed her stuff and went to say goodbye to the brothers.

"Thanks for having me over" she said as she fist pounded Riley and went to Huey. There was this moment of silence as she stood in front of him.

"What do you prefer?" she asked him. Huey's eye opened widely but went back to normal size quickly. She really is a cool chick. He quickly let out his hand for Skylar to give him dap.

"Thanks for having me" was all she said to Huey as she gave him dap. She ran towards Jazmine and gave her a big hug as she bid her goodbye. Skylar started heading to the door, when Riley stood to help her out. This got Jazmine's attention as they walked outside together. She quickly turned to Huey who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Thanks for the laid back day Reez" Skylar said as she walked to Cindy's car with Riley.

"You know, I won't slaughter you if you call me by my government name" Riley said as he chuckled.

"But you prefer your nickname, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I'm cool with whatever for now" he said to her genuinely. It is not every day where Riley gives you permission to call him whatever you like.

Skylar nodded as she stopped by the car door. She stood in front of Riley waiting for whatever he'd do next. However, she did take the opportunity to really look at him. She realised that Riley's eyes were more of a hazel colour compared to Huey maroon ones. She also saw that he was actually quite tall. He was not as tall as his brother, but he was still tall. He also had such a devious looking smile as well. Looking at him really did do something to her blood pressure. Lucky for her, she was able to hide her emotions when she really wanted to.

"Thanks for being a dope ass hommie today, you gotta tell me those cheats you used" Riley said to her. 'Damn, she really is pretty' he thought.

"I'll text them to you" she said with a smile, she stepped towards him with her arms open. Riley immediately understood and moved forward as well and started leaning down to hug her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he hugged her around her narrow waist.

'He gives really nice hugs' Skylar thought as she squeezed him back before letting go. She smiled at him once more before taking out her keys to unlock the car and enter it. Riley stepped back so he would not get run over. Skylar started the car and reversed out of the driveway. She waved to Riley and he waved back before driving to Woodcrest Estates.

As Riley walked back inside the house, he really started thinking. 'She a'ight' he thought as he entered the house. As he shut the door, Huey was standing with his hands in his pockets while Jazmine was beside him with her arms crossed over her chest. They were both giving Riley looks.

"Niggas what?" Riley asked confused. They continued to look at Riley unconvinced.

"WHAT?" he asked now getting defensive for a reason he did not know.

Huey just shook his head as he kept good eye contact with Riley while Jazmine sighed as she walked towards him. Jazmine kissed Riley on the cheek before she said, "Goodnight Riley."

"Ugh, night?" he said still confused as hell.

Jazmine waved to Huey before heading out the door. Huey diverged his eyes to Jazmine and nodded to her. As she closed the door on her way out, he looked back to his brother.

"Nigga what?" Riley asked loudly now with his arms out in the air completely irritated.

Huey stood there for another five seconds looking at him before going up the stairs to his bedroom. "Well fuck you too nigga!" Riley shouted to his brother.

Riley just shook his head at his brother and sister's behaviour as she switched off his speaker and PlayStation. He went upstairs as well to go chill in his room. He does not read minds or body language. If you have something to say to Riley, you say it. No further arguments.

Riley quickly changed into his pyjama pants and flopped onto his bed. Skylar's cool, but that's it, nothing more. He sighed as he became one with his thoughts as he slowly started drifting off into a sleep. Maybe tomorrow will be less confusing than today.

* * *

R&R :)


	9. Chapter 9

So since I am a newbie to this thing, I'm trying but I really do enjoy it. Since I enjoy it, I want you guys to enjoy it too. I hope my writing skills have gotten better because I really hate the feeling that you guys might read this and think "Okay, NEXT!" which I don't want. I want you guys to read it and be like :O . Haha! So I really do pray you like the chapters and the story more as it goes. Without further ado, Chapter 9!

Japanese translations:

Teishi – Stop

Mewosamasu – Wake up

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Chapter Nine: Lash Out

 _Sunday, August 16th_

Hiro woke up that Sunday feeling so much better after all of the work he did around the house before and after Ming's welcoming party. He got out of his bed and started to piece together his room. He started by making his bed and then taking out clothes for the day. He went to start running water for his bath when his phone rang.

"Tell me what's good" he said to his friend on the other end. He already knew who it was because he obviously had caller ID.

"I'll tell what's gonna be good, my Sunday Luuuuunch!" Jazmine exclaimed on the other end.

Hiro chuckled before asking her what she meant. Jazmine had explained that her family was having a Sunday lunch at her house and that she was able to invite friends. Hiro gladly took her offer before walking to Ming's room to tell her about their invitation.

Hiro knocked on his cousin's door and received a very whiny groan. He rolled his eyes and opened the door to her room. Ming was sprung out on her bed still trying to sleep.

"Ming, mewosamasu" Hiro ordered his cousin as he started grabbing the sheets off her bed so that she had nothing to hide under.

"Ugh, Hiro c'mooon" she whined as she tried to cover her face with her hands like a vampire who had been exposed to sunlight.

"We have an afternoon to look forward to, so get up" he concluded as he lifted up her pillow and wacked her on the head with it. Ming yelped in surprise before her ears filled up from Hiro's laughter.

"What's the occasion?" she asked as she sat up on her bed. Ming was a very beautiful girl. Her straight hair cascaded down to the middle of her back and her bangs draped over her forehead and around her eyes, those beautiful navy blue eyes. She had flawless skin and a toned body. She was not short, but she was not tall either. She was almost the same height as Hiro, who was the under the height of Riley by a few inches. Therefore, she was the second tallest girl in the crew. She was behind Cindy of course.

"Jazmine's family is hosting a Sunday lunch and she invited us." Hiro stated plainly as he started heading to the door.

"Jazmine?" Ming asked, but there was something in her voice that Hiro could not put his finger on that did not seem right.

"…Yeah?" he replied as he turned slowly to his cousin and gave her a suspicious look. Her eyes were looking at nothing as she thought about it.

"Okay." she concluded casually before she finally got out of her bed and went to her bathroom.

Hiro just furrowed his eyebrows at that. There was something in the way she said Jazmine's name as well as her body language that did not seem to feel right. He did not damper on it too long before he closed her door on his way out and went to get ready for the day.

Hiro was starting to feel very odd vibes in the group, because he was feeling some beef forming between Jazmine and Ming. He also still did not understand why Caesar was drooping all over the place yesterday at his house. Whenever Caesar feels like he needs to let his emotions be heard, he does not hesitate to tell a friend, but yesterday was different. Hell, Cindy called his house not too long after he left and she sounded as if she had someone holding a gun to her head when she spoke, because she was rambling and stuttering like a goddamn sheep. He hopes that all of the vibes that were occurring in the squad would subside soon because he has no idea how much more of it he can take before he becomes that crew's therapist.

As Hiro got out of the shower, he shuffled the music on his phone so he could jam while he got ready. Jazmine wanted them to be at her house by the latest 14:00. He was glad that his parents weren't home yet because they would have been knocking on his door to tell him to 'keep that horrific noise down'. Hiro has always had a passion for music. At the age of five he started playing the drums and soon started playing the guitar as well. When he was ten years old he really started getting into spinning the decks. He still plays the drums and guitar, but not as much as he DJs.

Hiro must say, his musical talent gets him a lot of girls. Sometimes the way he can catch a girl even made Riley jealous. To be honest, all of the boys in the squad were heartthrobs. Hiro really was a stunning guy. He has beautiful grey orbs and straight black hair. He clearly inherited his father's hair, but his mother's eyes. Miranda, his mother was a beautiful woman who was born and raised in America. His father was a handsome Japanese man raised in Yamanashi. His parents met in university. Next thing they knew, they were expecting a boy. His parents were confusing because they were laid back, but strict all at the same time. It confused Hiro a lot, so he hoped going to Jazmine's would not give his parents a heart attack.

The beautiful biracial boy continued getting dressed awaiting to meet up with his friends. However, he had a bad feeling about it…

At the McPhearson's…

Skylar was busy brushing her teeth before her phone started ringing. It was currently 09:17 when she picked up her phone.

"Ha-woh?" she greeted with her mouth filled with foamy toothpaste.

Riley started laughing into the phone at the way she greeted. Skylar rolled her eyes as she waited for him to calm himself down.

"Damn, it sounds as if you got a dick in yo' mouth hahahahah!" he cracked up.

This just made Skylar put her palm on her forehead from her friend's stupidity. "Riwey, wha dzo you wan'?" she asked as she continued brushing her teeth.

"I was just callin' to tell you that Jazmine is hosting some fancy gig." He answered his foam filled friend.

"Jazz?" she asked once more.

"Yeah. Her parents got some Sunday Lunch. She wants you to come through"

"Tell ha' I will be thuurr" she stated as she tried to keep the foam in her mouth.

Riley chuckled, "Now you can go back to your business" he teased.

Skylar rolled her eyes before she hung up and finished cleaning her pearly whites. She was glad that everyone was really starting to know her.

It was not every day that Skylar had friends as genuine as the gang. Moving to The Bronx really had an effect on her. She moved there because of her mother's work, but that did not mean she was going to have it easy. Being one of few new people in her area, she was stepped on. She would be called very offensive terms and was looked down on. It took her some time to find some friends there. Her trust levels were at a high and she stood up for anyone that came in the way of her true friends and family. She was protective. She wants to give people the protection she never got back in The Bronx. She had to change her attitude a bit as well. She was honestly a genuine girl with genuine problems and genuine feelings. She was glad that she moved to Woodcrest, because she would have never understood the feeling of being accepted at first glance. Therefore, Skylar was not going to screw this up. Not one bit.

She was excited to hang out with the squad before school. This will help her get to know everyone more. She continued getting ready for the day before heading downstairs to greet her aunt and uncle. She was grateful for them to let her in. She REALLY was not going to let this pass up.

At the DuBois…

"Out of all of the girls, you're my one and only girl, ain't nobody in the world toniiiiiight!"

"DAD!" Jazmine squealed as she tried to concentrate on cooking, but her father was busy having an Idols session while cleaning the foyer.

"Aaaall of the stars, you make them shine like they were ours, ain't nobody in the world but yooouuuu …and I" he continued as he purposely ignored his daughter. Jazmine laughed at her father's foolishness. As much as she hated his singing, it was a good sign. It meant that he was really happy or looking forward to something. He has not sung much ever since the Usher thing. Jazmine was busy cooking Sunday Lunch with her mother in the kitchen. Everyone has not bathed purposely as they were all cooking and cleaning. She was busy putting something in the stove when she heard the doorbell ring. She quickly put the chicken in the oven and went to the door. She opened her door to the Freemans.

"Morning!" she chimed with her elegant smile as she stepped to the side to allow them in.

"Hello there little baby!" Robert chimed as he entered her home.

"Sup, Jazz" Riley said as he went to give her a nuggy.

"Owwwww Riley really?" she whined as her scalp was being bullied by her kid brother. He really did feel like family and the same went for him. Believe or not, they were close.

Riley just laughed as he let her go and followed Robert inside.

"Hi" was all Huey said as he entered his best friend's house.

"Hello there" she greeted as he stepped into her foyer. She quickly closed the door and went back to the kitchen.

"Robeeerrrt! How are ya?" Tom exclaimed as he went to give the elder Freeman a hug.

"Ugh, ugh, Tom! You smell like a dead rat" Robert spat back as he held out his hand so that Tom could keep his distance. Tom quickly absorbed his neighbour's words before quickly shifting to a different topic of conversation.

"Hi boys! Good to see ya! Why don't you follow me out back so you can start setting up the patio?" Tom exclaimed and asked as he lead the boys outside.

"Morning Robert" Sarah said as soon as her husband was outside.

"Hey Sarah, what you cooking?" Robert said as he approached the two in the kitchen.

"My famous peach cobbler!" she exclaimed.

"Did I just hear Mrs DuBois say she's cooking throw-up?" Riley asked from the sliding door.

"Boy! Get to work!" Robert yelled to his idiot grandson.

Sarah just bowed her head slightly so her disappointment could not be seen. Sarah quickly told Robert what to help out with. He quickly absorbed the information and joined the duo with stirring and chopping. It was currently 11:35.

The DuBois and the Freemans all went full force to make sure everything was set and prepared by 13:00. After cooking everything, Jazmine left the adults downstairs and went to get ready for the day. The boys were finishing downstairs with her father when she went into her room. It was now 12:51. She cleaned her body and hair thoroughly before putting her perfumed creamy lotion on and getting dressed.

Jazmine wore her hair down today. It flowed down her beautiful body all the way down to her lower back. She wore a lacey turquoise skirt that stopped just above the knees with a baby pink loose silky tank top. She wore a white tank underneath it so that it was not so transparent. She wore plain white Vans as well as golden bracelets and stud earrings. As she headed downstairs, the boys just finished setting the grill and patio.

"Oh sweetheart you look beautiful!" Sarah beamed as she saw her daughter by the stairs. Jazmine smiled at her mother and thanked her.

"Jazmine honey, could you go across the street and – OH MY WORD!" Tom gasped as he saw his daughter. Jazmine had no idea whether he was happy or mad, so she held her breath.

"SWEETHEART YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL!" Tom sobbed. This got a laugh out of Jazmine and Sarah.

"Thanks, daddy" she said in between laughter.

He quickly cleared his throat before going back to what he wanted to say. "Would you go to the Freeman's with lil' ol' Huey here? All the desserts are there and I need Riley to help set up the home theatre." Jazmine shrugged her shoulders before she headed to the door.

"Thank you honey" was all Tom said before finishing up with Riley.

As Jazmine walked with Huey to his home, they exchanged a few words. When they entered the house, Jazmine went straight to the kitchen. She then realised Huey stopped following her. He was heading up the stairs.

"Ugh, Huey?" she asked confused.

"Shower" he stated plainly as he carried on going up the stairs. Jazmine just nodded and went to the fridge and freezer.

It was 13:27 when Huey came downstairs. Jazmine had finished off some desserts when he came down. She heard Huey approaching her from behind while she closed a container. She figured he wanted to help.

"Okay, cool. So now may you please help me carry these desserts back to my—"she started as she turned around, but cut herself short when she saw the way Huey was looking at her.

Huey still had his typical facial expression where he held a frown and his eyebrows were furrowed, but there was a look in his eyes that made Jazmine nervous. Not only did he look at her like that, he smelled really good as well. He smelt like Gillette and baby soap. Jazmine didn't understand why it smelled so good, but it did. Huey obviously combed out his afro as it was softer and more poofy than normal. He wore a crisp white t-shirt with a dark denim jacket over it with nicely fitted khaki pants. He wore red All-stars and his silver watch. Did she mention that Huey smelled REALLY good?

"C-can I help you?" Jazmine asked trying to keep her body under control.

Huey just stared at her. Jazmine was waiting for him to say or do something else, but he didn't. This made Jazmine even more nervous.

"W-what can I help you with?" she asked without taking what she said into consideration.

Huey took his hands out of his pockets and put each arm on either side of Jazmine. Jazmine's breathing became irregular as he inched closer. Huey was never really one with words when it came to emotions like these. Therefore, he just let his body speak for himself. Jazmine leaned backwards, but failed miserably since she was already pinned to the counter.

'Not again' she thought. Do not get Jazmine wrong, she loved kissing Huey. It was some of the best moments of her life, but she was feeling suddenly very insecure.

"Huey…" she started, but never finished. He was so close. So close to her face that she could feel his breath on her lips. "I…" she tried again.

As he inched his lips towards her own, Jazmine stopped them from connecting by turning her head to the side. Huey took note of her action and leaned his head away from hers. He gave her a questioning face.

"Huey…I…I want to. Gosh, I REALLY want to, but I can't help but have the feeling that this will go nowhere."

This made Huey lean his body a bit backwards as well. He did not understand. He thought she wanted this. He certainly knows that he wants this, but he still does not understand why.

"I really wanna kiss you too Huey, but I wanna kiss you knowing…" she stopped herself before she gave off too much information on her feelings for him. "What I mean is—"

"Jazmine…?" he said. For the first time today he uttered her name, but there was something so good in the way he said it.

"Huey—"

"Jazmine…" was all he said as leaned his body back towards Jazmine. Her breath hitched at his action. He quickly looked to the side and licked his lips. He turned back to her and looked into her eyes. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't. There was no way he was making himself vulnerable to her like that.

That look. That look in his eyes was back. Jazmine's heart raced as their eyes stared at each other. She unconsciously leaned towards him. Her mind was telling her to stop, but her body was being a dumb ass bitch and was doing its own thing. Huey's furrowed eyebrows softened as he leaned his face back to hers. She let out a low sigh as he felt his body warmth come towards hers. Jazmine started closing her eyes and so did he. It felt like eternity before their lips finally connected. For the first time since they started this silent game, they exchanged such a soft, intimate and passionate kiss. Their other kisses were usually so rough and hungry, but this one was just breath taking. There was so much raw emotion in it.

Jazmine let her hands rest on his chest and slithered her way up to his neck before she tangled her smooth arms around it. The same went for Huey as he snaked his arms around her waist. They both held each other closer and then made their kiss deeper. Jazmine licked his bottom lip as a request to deepen the kiss. Huey opened his mouth just enough so that she could get what she wanted. She met with Huey's tongue, and the next thing a passionate war broke out between the tongues. Freeman was winning this war as he made his presence dominant in their battle. Jazmine let out a content sigh. It was final, Jazmine DuBois was finally certain she was in love with Huey Freeman.

At the DuBois…

Riley finished setting up the home theatre before he got up to go shower back at home.

"Grandad, you comin'?" he asked his grandfather.

"Yeah, I'll meet you there in a minute." was all Robert said as he tried to finish off some of the dishes.

"A'ight" was all Riley said before exiting his mulatto sister's house.

As Riley entered the house, he was bombarded with the most shocking scene of his life. Jazmine on his kitchen counter with his brother smooching that bitch's neck. Riley shook his head before he shut the door loudly on purpose. This made Jazmine squeal and flinch onto Huey while he darted his eyes to where the noise came from. For the first time in his life, Riley was able to see Huey's face as if he were a deer in the lights. Riley held a smirk before he walked over to the stairs.

"Jazmine, get the hell off my counter. I eat there, lil' nasty" was all Riley said as he went to go get ready for the lunch.

Jazmine buried her face in Huey's chest out of embarrassment. Huey just shook his head before he helped Jazmine off the counter. She straightened her outfit out before grabbing some dishes.

"Let's take these over to my house" was all she said before she walked to the door. Huey followed swiftly after her and they bumped into Robert on the way.

"There yal are! What took you so long?" Robert asked curious.

Huey was about to explain before Jazmine thankfully beat him to it. "I'm sorry Mr Freeman. I was finishing the desserts off here rather than at my house. Too crowded you know?" she said with that angelic smile.

"Oh, of course cutie pie! My bad" Robert said with a gentle voice before heading into his house to freshen up. Always trust Jazmine to get you out of situations like that.

Huey and Jazmine put the desserts in the freezer and fridge before walking out onto the patio. They really cleaned up over there. The outside couches were clean and the patio dining table and chairs were good as new. The bar was also functioning well and the grill was on its way. Tom and Sarah seemed to have already bathed when the two came back. The patio had its open bar ready and the grill was being lit by Tom.

After starting the grill, Tom asked Huey to get the meat that was already marinated and cut in the meat fridge just off the bar. Huey grabbed the meat container with disgust and gave it to Tom before he went back to Jazmine. Huey had no idea what his body was feeling, but he was still a bit dazed with what happened earlier. He smelt a bit like cream and strawberries thanks to Jazmine. All Huey was thinking about at that moment was how good she smelt.

After a lot of fuss and worrying, people started to flood into the DuBois household. Caesar and Cindy were the first people to arrive. They greeted Jazmine's parents as they came out onto the patio to join Huey and Jazmine. Riley arrived five minutes after them. The hospitality and the vibes were a breeze as friends and family came over.

Skylar, Hiro and Ming all came at the same time by coincidence as they entered Jazmine's house.

"Hey guys!" Jazmine exclaimed as she went over to hug her friends. However, it took all of Jazmine's might to hug Ming. Ming did not give the coolest of hugs either by what she felt.

The adults were inside probably getting wasted with champagne and wine while the teenagers were outside listening to music and having laughs. They had enough drinking done at Hiro's.

Everyone seemed so relaxed and happy, but Jazmine could not stop the feeling that someone was staring at her like they were trying to burn a hole through her body. She left it for a couple of minutes as she talked and laughed with the gang, but it did not go away. She started fidgeting in her seat next to Huey, and he realised that she was uncomfortable. Therefore, Huey spoke out enough for only them to hear.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he furrowed his brows more than usual.

"I feel like someone's staring at me" she uttered to him.

Huey causally looked around so it did not look obvious that he was looking for the culprit. Surprisingly, he saw that it was Ming staring Jazmine down. She looked ready to stab Jazmine. He frowned at this and turned to face forward again and uttered to Jazmine, "It's Ming."

Jazmine whipped her head to Huey. "What? W-why?" she asked confused and surprised. Huey shook his head, and Jazmine took the hint that it meant he did not want to talk about it in front of everyone like this where they could hear. Jazmine got up to go to the bar and get some beverages for her friends.

Jazmine came back with her famous homemade lemonade. The crew accepted it gratefully, except for one person.

"Ming, would you like some lemonade?" she asked genuinely.

"No" Ming said while staring off into the distance so she could not look at Jazmine's pretty face.

"Would like something else?" Jazmine asked.

"No"

"You sure?"

"I said NO damnit! God…" Ming shouted at Jazmine before shaking her head and looking away again. This caught everyone's attention, but both were oblivious.

Jazmine slowly stood straight. "Ming, what is up with you?" Jazmine asked now feeling very insulted. Jazmine eyebrows were furrowed like Huey's and she had a frown her face.

"None of your goddamn busy. Now fuck off." Ming spat.

This girl was testing Jazmine's patience. "Excuse me?" Jazmine asked with complete disbelief.

It seemed as if Ming was looking for a fight, because she slowly stood up from one of the couches and got all up in Jazmine's face.

"I. Said. Fuck. Off."

"Pardon me, but this is my house, so don't you dare order me around like that." Jazmine stated with a bit of sass in her voice. This made Cindy and Hiro's eyes widen, because they could already sense something bad was going to happen.

"I just did. What are you going to do about it?" Ming asked with venom in her voice as she stepped towards Jazmine again, but Jazmine stepped back, because she REALLY was not wishing so explode right now.

"I would probably ask you to leave."

"Then why did you invite me in the first place, dumbass?"

"I invited Hiro, not you."

That made Riley and Caesar hiss. At this point, Riley had already taken out his phone to film this confrontation.

Ming was shocked at this statement and therefore widened her eyes, but quickly squinted them with anger. Feeling like being physical was her next move, she started bucking at Jazmine. Jazmine on the other hand was resisting at all costs.

"Would you STOP!?" Jazmine said as she shoved Ming away from her. Her blood was boiling and getting higher by the second. Her breathing started getting heavy and her eyes started changing colour.

"What's wrong? Can't fight you lil' bitch?" Ming hissed.

"What, did you just call me?" Jazmine asked with venom growing in her own voice. Jazmine now stepped into Ming. This was not going to end well.

"Oh come on Jazmine! Stop the goody two shoes act! You're a bitch and you gotta accept it!"

"The only bitch I see right now is you Ming, what the hell?"

"Don't test me bitch—"

"YOU must not test me!—"

"God you're such a whore—"Ming started, but could not finish since her sentence because Jazmine's fist connected with her jaw.

"DAAAAAAAMMMMNNNN!" Riley and Caesar exclaimed.

"DON'T YOU DARE GIVE FALSE ACCUSATIONS! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME!" Jazmine shouted.

Ming was ready to launch her own fist, but was stopped by Hiro as he grabbed both her arms. Cindy came and put her hand on her best friend's shoulder to calm her down.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME EITHER!" Ming shouted back.

"MING! TEISHI!" Hiro shouted. While gripping her arms.

Jazmine was ready to knock this bitch out, but she tried to calm herself down. Her emerald eyes were starting to turn a greener colour. It seemed like a lime kind of colour if looked at them at far. Those were Jazmine's demon eyes. They only go that colour if she's super pissed.

"Jazmine, I'll call you." Hiro said as he went around the house to the front with Ming in his grasps.

Jazmine was breathing heavy. She needed to calm down. She gently took Cindy's hand off her shoulder and left the patio to go to her room. Cindy was ready to follow her, but Caesar held her shoulders and shook his head. Cindy nodded in understanding as she resisted to go to her best friend's aid.

Jazmine was in her room by her window seat playing with her skirt. It had been almost thirty minutes since she walked up here. She really does not like her mean side, because Jazmine does not like mean people. The last time Jazmine got that angry was in her sophomore year when she saw her classmate, Camilia being bullied by some rude Junior girl. Jazmine had never felt like such a badass until that day.

It took Jazmine some time to realise that Cindy had came into her room unannounced. "Hey girl" she said in a soft and kind voice.

"Hello" Jazmine said flatly. She still was not in the mood for people.

"How you feelin'?"

"Meh." Jazmine said with a shrug and a pout of the lip. This made Cindy chuckle.

"Listen, I know you would appreciate some alone time, but lunch is about to be served and your parents are calling you. What should I tell them?"

"I'll be down in a sec" Jazmine answered as she let out a sigh before shifting her legs to dangle off the window seat.

Cindy gave her friend one last kind smile before closing her door and heading downstairs.

Jazmine let her legs swing as they dangled off the seat. She has always despised cruel people. She never liked it when someone would get insulted or hurt. Therefore, how could she not feel bad? She insulted and hurt them. She might not like Ming, but did she really deserve that? She started having a nasty feeling at the bottom of her stomach, but pushed it away as she slowly stood up and dusted herself off. It felt like a journey around the world as she took her long walk back downstairs.

When Jazmine was downstairs, she made it just in time to join everyone in the dining room for the prayer. She went in between her mother and aunt Nessie. They all joined hands and bowed their heads in prayer. Her Uncle Roger was praying for the meal. After the prayer, everyone was able to go back into their little cliques after dishing up.

When Jazmine went outside, all eyes were on her, and that did not let her feel any better. She sat between Riley and Caesar while Huey was directly in front of her. Huey gave her a look that told her that she just needed to calm down. Jazmine diverged her eyes to the pumpkin on her plate due to her guilt. Before she could get into depression mode, Riley burst out laughing.

Riley calmed down and started patting his sister on the back as if to say 'well done'. This just confused Jazmine. She looked around the table to see her friends were smiling or smirking at her.

"You know, I've been waiting for a moment like that all life." Caesar said with a chuckle.

"Shit, I have witnessed it before! That was PG13 compared to what she did for Camilia back in sophomore year!" Cindy exclaimed.

"Jazmine, you's a thug! Welcome to the dark siiide!" Riley said as he clapped his hands.

"Remind me to never get you pissed off" Skylar teased.

"B-but I hurt her guys! I feel terrible!" Jazmine exclaimed before putting her face in her tiny yellow hands.

"So what? That bitch was asking fo' it! Her ass was lucky when she started cussin' out Skye and Cindy! I'm shocked that she didn't go to hospital that day. To be honest, I thought she was gonna go to the morgue today." Riley said as he started shoving a chicken leg into his big fat mouth.

This made everyone laugh and Jazmine shake her head.

The rest of the lunch went well with a lot of eating, drinking and dancing. Jazmine also had the opportunity to introduce her friends to her family. After such a dramatic start to the day, it was ending quite well, until Huey pulled her out onto her front porch at 18:01.

"Huey, what's wrong?" she asked with worry in her voice.

Huey did not say anything as he took Jazmine to Dorothy and started the ignition.

"Huey! What's up? Where are we even going?" she asked now getting nervous.

As Huey pulled out of his driveway he said, "We're going to the Otomo's."

* * *

R&R :) - Elle

Song Tom sang: You and I by John Legend.


	10. Chapter 10

Japanese Translations:

Arigato – Thank You

Anata no yūjin wa koko ni arimasu – Your friends are here

Chinese Meanings: Keeping face – Maintaining family's honour and reputation

.. .. .. – End of a P.O.V

' ' – Thoughts

* * *

Chapter Ten: Spillage

Jazmine's eyes had turned back to their natural emerald colour, but her eyes were wide open with surprise.

"W-what?" she asked.

"Jazmine don't play dumb. You heard me the first time loud and clear" Huey stated as the car stopped at a red light. What Huey said was true, but she still could not believe it. They are going to the Otomo's. They are going to the place where Hiro and Ming stay. Oh fuck. They are going to the place Ming stays.

"Well what are we even going there for?" she asked now getting a bit nervous.

Huey was silent.

This just made Jazmine even more nervous.

"Huey, I said what are even—"

"I heard you the first time" he stated firmly.

'Crap, what is he going to do?' Jazmine knew she went over the edge, but that did not mean Huey had to get involved. It was not his battle to fight, so what was he doing?

"If you heard me the first time, why didn't you reply?" she asked just as firm.

Huey fell silent again.

"Huey Freeman!"

"Damnit Jazmine! I didn't like it. I did not like it, okay?" Huey spilled. Jazmine just looked at him for a second before opening her mouth to say something, but was cut short.

"I did not like the fact that Ming was staring at you as if she wanted to slit your throat with a pencil. I did not like it when she cussed you out IN YOUR HOUSE. I did not like the fact that she had the nerve to start a fight. For God's sake, I did not like her from the beginning!" Huey said with so much frustration in his voice. His hands started to tighten on the wheel so much that his veins started showing. Jazmine could see that his nose was getting flared as well.

Oh shit. Huey's pissed.

"Huey—"

"Just let me do this." He stated with such determination in his voice. He is not always like this, but when he is, it meant that he was ready to give someone a piece of his mind.

Jazmine slowly nodded her head as she looked at Huey. She hated feeling this way at a time like this, but she thought Huey was so hot at this moment. 'Damn' she thought as she kept on looking at her friend. Though, she was not able to look at him for too long, because he just finished turning off the ignition. They had reached their destination.

Huey got out of the car swiftly and did not bother to lock it. Jazmine followed quickly behind him. By the time Jazmine caught a bit of her breath, Huey had already knocked on the door and rang the doorbell. When the door opened, they were surprised to see Mrs Otomo at the door.

"Oh hello Huey, Jazmine" Miranda greeted kindly to the teenagers. They were her son's closest friends.

"Good evening Mrs Otomo, is Hiro and Ming home?" Huey asked as politely as possible. He might be enraged, but he was saving that lash out for the culprits.

"Oh yes, they're home. One second" Miranda said before turning towards the living room. "Hiro! Ming! Anata no yūjin wa koko ni arimasu!" she called out.

"I TOLD YOU!" Hiro shouted to someone before he ran to the door. "Yo'!" Hiro exclaimed with a very fake smile to his friends.

"Arigato" Hiro said to his mother before giving her a kiss on the cheek. Miranda just smiled before she left her son to his friends.

Hiro fanned Huey and Jazmine inside the house and then to the backyard. On the way to the backyard, Hiro called out to Ming. "Outside! Now!"

This shocked Jazmine, because Hiro was not one to order people around. I guess everybody is not themselves today. Surprisingly, Ming followed Hiro's orders immediately as she got up from the sofa and followed them out the back. The good thing about the backyard was that it was a little private because the parents would not be able to hear the commotion.

Everyone stopped at an appropriate spot. The moment they stopped, Huey shoved Jazmine in front of Ming before he said, "Apologise."

Ming scoffed at this and folded her arms. This made Hiro death glare her, but it seemed like Ming was standing strong.

"Ming" Hiro said in a strangled voice. Damn, Hiro was pissed too.

"No" she said without hesitation, and with quite a lot of attitude.

"Are you serious?" Huey asked taken aback.

Ming just stood her ground. "What do I have to apologise for?"

"EVERYTHING!" Hiro and Huey yelled at the same time.

"Why doesn't SHE get to apologise?!" Ming yelled defensively.

"She will have her turn. Right now, I need you to man up and admit that you were wrong." Huey commanded.

"I was wrong? I WAS WRONG?" Ming asked as her voice raised out of anger.

"Damnit Ming, STOP! Just stop! Ever since you've rocked up here you've given everyone two completely different sides to you. One minute you want to be everyone's friend, the next you're ready for war. An unnecessary war might I add. You came to me and asked me to be your friend, but I said you had to earn it. This is not earning it, Ming! Not at all! In fact, you might have lost your chance at ever being my friend!" Huey shouted, and Huey Freeman does not shout.

This made everyone's eyes go wide.

"You came over to Jazmine's, you insulted her in front of all of her friends, and you had the nerve to give false information? What other stuff are you lying about? Jazmine has done nothing wrong to you!" Huey continued.

"Jazmine has done nothing to me? Jazmine has done everything to me! You don't know me Freeman! You did not even try, ever! How was I supposed to even become you as well as Jazmine's friend if you two would not even let me in?" Ming started spilling out.

Wait, is it just Jazmine, or was there a twist of fate over here?

"Jazmine has done nothing to you! None of us have! Ever since your confession you've totally gotten astray!" Huey spat back.

"Woah, woah, woah! Wait, what? What confession?" Jazmine asked now getting super confused. There was so much happening at once.

Hiro put his hand on his face out of irritation and frustration. This was not going well at all.

Ming suddenly fell silent. Huey cut in.

"Ming eavesdropped on you and Ace on Friday. She took a picture of you hugging him and sent it to me anonymously so that I could get angry and think otherwise. Surprisingly, it worked." Huey explained to Jazmine while staring Ming down.

Jazmine listened to Huey, and every sentence he said made her eyes grow even wider. "Wha…what?" Jazmine uttered in disbelief.

"Jazmine, she likes me" Huey stated bluntly. Jazmine whipped her head to Huey, and then to Ming, but then back to Huey.

Jazmine's words were stuck in her throat.

"You know, we are going off topic. Let's back to business, shall we? Apologise" Huey commanded as he gestured to Jazmine again.

"NO!" Ming shouted.

"MING!" Hiro shouted as well.

"NO! NO! … NO! I will not apologise for anything! I am not apologising for my actions because they portray what I feel! I only really cared about making friends with Huey anyway. Huey! Then this mulatto bitch keeps on jumping in and ruining my chances! So I will NOT apologise! I will NOT apologise for her tampering with my life!"

"Tampering? Ming…" Jazmine started, finally finding her tongue. "Ming, I would really appreciate an apology. I understand how you feel, really I do, but just because you are jealous about Huey and I being friends does not give you any right to insult me the way you did. I never gave you a chance to be a friend? You never allowed me to really get to know you. To be quite honest, I was really intimidated by you when you first moved here. I was scared as hell, and I never knew how to work around it because you had this defensive demeanour. You also can't just expect other people to drop their friendships for you. You need to understand that people will always treat each other differently, and sometimes you have to accept that. However, that does not mean that you need to turn into something you're not. You obviously don't want to apologise, but I will. I'm sorry if I seemed to have dodged you out. I'm sorry if you felt abandoned, and I'm sorry I punched you" Jazmine laughed a bit at her last apology.

Jazmine stepped to the side. "Well, I am going to go home now. We have school tomorrow. There is obviously a lot more we all need to discuss, but that's for another day." was all she concluded before she started her journey back inside the house.

Ming's eyes were wide with shock. She had no comeback. No smart remark. No defence mechanism. She was amazed. Who knew Jazmine was so good with words?

Huey gave Ming one more quick glance before following Jazmine back inside. This left Hiro and Ming outside. They could hear Dorothy's ignition being started and soon heard her engine roaring off into the distance.

Ming suddenly felt so exposed. So vulnerable. So, sad. She could feel a pool starting to fill up on her eyelids. She bowed her head and closed her eyes as her tears started streaming down her face. Hiro saw this immediately. He had put his hand on her back and gently started to rub it. Ming's sniffs turned into silent sobs, and before she knew it, Ming's heart just tore open. All the emotions she had kept boiled up inside just came and flowed out her mouth in hoarse sobs. By this time Hiro had his arms wrapped around his beloved cousin. He might not think everything she does is logical, but she needs him right now. She needed someone to hold onto and let her heart pour out. She's family, and there was no way Hiro was going to let her suffocate from her emotions alone.

Inside Dorothy…

The car was silent as Huey and Jazmine drove their way home. Jazmine had no idea Huey would actually do that for her. She was stunned. Just thinking about it made her all giddy inside and show a cheesy smile.

"And what are you smiling about?" Huey questioned as he saw Jazmine's smile in his perennial vision.

Jazmine just shook her head before letting out a content sigh. She is really happy, because Huey actually cares. He might not show it all the time, but he really does. She did not ponder it too much because she didn't want to get her hopes up.

Huey carried on driving while his best friend was smiling like an idiot next to him. He was feeling, weird. He does not do this for Jazmine often, but when he does, he means it. He really does. However, this event really stirred up his emotions. He felt all fuzzy and shit. His heart was racing and his face was flushed with heat. He did not want anyone to hurt Jazmine in any manner or form. That's what friends are for, right?

"Thank you" Jazmine said cutting Huey from his deep thoughts.

Huey quickly glanced at her and then put his focus back on the road. He then nodded and carried on driving.

"May I ask a question?" Jazmine asked.

'Shit', Huey thought. When Jazmine says that, it means that they are either going to be talking about something emotionally confusing or philosophical.

"Yeah, wassup?" he approved, waiting for what she will stir up this time. Jazmine does not always realise it, but she is quite intelligent, open-minded and insightful. And as much as he hates these kinds of talks sometimes, he gets to see Jazmine really feel strong about something and challenge you. She is caring, understanding, smart, artistic and absolutely beautiful.

"How do you feel about her?" she asked.

Huey was not at all stupid. He knew exactly who Jazmine referred to.

"Jazmine, may we talk about this tomorrow or something? I say this because I'm driving and its 18:30. I need to head home and look over my subjects for tomorrow." He explained trying to kindly deny his friend.

Jazmine nodded. "Okay, sure" she said with that cute ass smile.

They fell silent once again as they drove the rest of the way home in silence.

Ming's POV…

I hate this shit. I really do. I hate getting intact with my feelings, because they always screw me over. I cried into Hiro's shoulder for five long minutes non-stop. The more I think about everything, the more I want to cry, and I do not like crying.

I never really had it easy. I grew up living two different lives. One minute I will be in Japan with my family enjoying every minute I breathe. The next minute I am back in China trying to win tournaments for my grandfather's kickball team. I lived like that for almost ten years, until I visited Woodcrest. My grandfather and I stayed by my cousin's home while we were here.

It was weird, because I did not know who I was or where I belonged. I always moved and shifted my personality to fit into crowds. After some time, I just got angry. I was angry at everything and everyone. I was even angry at my best friend who happened to be my cousin. I guess anger was my main personality trait. I was angry that I never had time to settle and have friends. I was angry that I was apart from my family or always drifted away from them. I was angry with my life.

I allowed people to take control of my life for so long that I never knew how to control myself and really be independent. After a while, I stopped living for my grandfather, but only by chance. If it was not for that afro boy I would have never gotten out of that cage. If it was not for him, I would have never gained the little independence I have. If it was not for him, I would not have found a bit of myself.

Growing up with not having friends is quite a damper on me, because I then never know how to make them, keep them, act around them and express myself around them. That was why I held onto Hiro, but he immigrated to America with his parents. After then, I was not able to maintain our friendship.

Now when I have the chance to be with my best friend again, I screw it up, big time. I came to America because I needed to gain my independence and find myself, but I could not have done that if I was still indirectly trapped in China. Therefore I wanted to leave. I had to leave. My parents actually sat down with me and talked about it. They were not always around me because my grandfather dragged me along everywhere and my father could never deny him. He was much more powerful than him. So when I had the time to be with my parents I cherished it greatly. Now that they gave me an opportunity, I was not going to waste it. I will become someone and hopefully bring my parents with me, as well as keeping face.

Now that I am here I screwed it up for myself and Hiro. I felt terrible. When Huey and Jazmine came to confront me, it brought ten years of a broken life flow down my face. I never meant to hurt people the way I did. I was too proud and angry to reflect on any of my actions and think before I acted. All Hiro had done was try to strive me in the right direction, and I disappointed him.

The moment he introduced me to his friends I was angry and bitchy because so many faces brought back so many memories I did not want to remember, so I burst. That burst got me nowhere. I had to start from scratch that same day on my first America high school day.

Ironically, the only person that I had respect for was Huey Freeman. Therefore, when I saw him that first day in the hallway I was shocked to see the person that changed my life. I felt like I owed him something, everything. Due to me feeling that way, I grew feelings for the big-haired boy. I don't know if they will ever go away, even if he does like that biracial pixie.

After that night's events, I sobbed silently in my bedroom with a few check-ups from Hiro. He allowed me to borrow his iPod for music and got me dinner. He told his parents that I just had a lot of school work. This is why I love that Fitz and Olivia hating idiot. After about an hour and a half of sulking, I quickly scanned my school work for anything I might have missed, showered and headed to bed.

An old saying in Chinese my father told me was 'bú pà màn, jiù pà tíng' meaning, "Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still." I guess it will help me here, because I have a journey to restart.

.. .. ..

At Woodcrest High…

School started off that week like how every school week started off, boring. The squad was spread out today due to the events that occurred the previous day. Everything just seemed out of place. After school everyone hung out by the school outdoor courts. They were all lucky that they did not have anything to do that day, because there was a lot to discuss.

"Ey, has anyone seen Hiro and the bitch?" Cindy asked, before receiving a painful punch to her forearm by her cousin. "Ow! Ey, don't act like you don't know" she stated as she started rubbing her arm. "After yesterday, I don't know if I can respect that bitch anymore" Cindy said firmly as she crossed her arms.

"You have no right to be calling anyone a bitch though Cin—" Skylar started.

"I have every right to call her a bitch!" Cindy cut in whipping her head to Skylar. "First off," she started, raising one finger "the first day we meet her, she was very quick to come act like she's Beyoncé. Not only did she do it to me, but to you too Skye!" she exclaimed. "Second," she began now raising two fingers, "she has the goddamn nerve to rock up to Jazz's crib and cuss her out? Oh hell naw!" Cindy yelled with her hands up now getting angry by just talking about it.

"Cindy—"

"Nuh-ugh girl! You fucks with me and my crew, you askin' for it!" Cindy said shaking her head.

"Baby, you need to calm down" Caesar said as he started rubbing her back.

"Calm down for what? For who? So that bitch can come slice us again?"

"Yo! Calm yo' ass down! We all know that she's been doin' some al' bullshit, but that's Hiro's cuz. You need ta back the fuck up!" Riley intervened as he walked to his friend.

It was shocking how everyone just started debating about the beautiful Chinese girl. Jazmine just shook her head at her friends' foolishness as she continued writing in her notebook. Huey was a bit surprised that Jazmine did not stand up and start a speech about how they must all give Ming another chance. She was usually very quick to intervene, but she was glued to her notebook today. She has been on it since the morning. She was writing in it on their way to school in Dorothy. She was writing in it when we had free time in class and she scribbled non-stop during lunch. Her notebook was a cobalt blue with a tribal themed elephant in the front with her name under it in cursive.

"Jazmine would you put that down?" Huey asked out of frustration.

"Nah, I'm cool" she replied as she continued scribbling away. Huey rolled his eyes at her.

"I mean who does she think she is? She ain't slick!" Cindy said continuing to cuss out about Ming.

"STOP!" Riley, Caesar and Skylar shouted in unionism.

"Okay, okay! But when she's up yo' ass, don't act like I didn't warn you" Cindy huffed as she laid back on the grand stands.

"EY!" Hiro yelled as he approached his friends with Ming while waving.

"Ahhh shit" Cindy groaned as her head fell back in annoyance.

As they came closer, Hiro quickly whispered to Ming "You ready?"

"Yeah" she whispered back as they were now in front of his friends.

Ming and Hiro stood in front of the gang and the gang just stared back. They were all staring at each other for five long ass seconds. After some time, Hiro finally spoke.

"Waddup fam, this is my cousin, Ming. She emigrated here from China and will be doing her Senior year with some of us." Hiro stated. The gang was silent.

"Hey, the name's Ming. Pleasure to meet you." Ming said before giving an honourable bow. The gang was still silent.

…

…

…

"Hiro, what kind of shit is this?" Cindy asked with irritation in her voice as well as on her face.

Hiro and Ming stood there waiting for a better response since they both knew that they were not going to get anything done with Cindy's impulsive tongue.

Skylar smiled as she understood the motive of this gesture. She stood up from the grandstands and walked over to Ming. "Hey, I'm Skylar, but you can call me Skye. I recently moved here too. I'm living with my loud mouthed cousin, Cindy." She greeted as she shook Ming's hand.

"EY!" Cindy yelled at her cousin's greeting.

Caesar smiled catching on and walked over to Ming as well. He gave her a hug before he introduced himself. "Hey, I'm Michael Caesar, one of Hiro's closest friends. You can call me Ceasar or Ceez" he said with a genuine smile.

By this time, Jazmine stopped scribbling down in her notebook and was absorbing the events that were occurring around her. She smiled. She stood up and followed swiftly. She shook Ming's hand and introduced herself as well. Riley followed after her and gave Ming dap while Huey just gave her a nod. Huey was still pretty pissed. Cindy was still sitting down on the stands looking away. Cindy was punched by Skylar once more before she finally, but reluctantly started to walk down the stands.

"I don't like what you tryna pull, but I still wants answers. I see what you doin' but I'm gonna keep quiet, for once." Cindy stated right in front of Ming looking down at her a bit since Ming was shorter than her. Cindy was looking at her with a stern face. This made Ming a bit nervous. Cindy then let a smirk cross her face as well as a playful eye roll. "'Sup, Cindy McPhearson, but you gotta call me C-Murph" she greeted as she let her hand out for a dap. This made Ming smile before retrieving her hand.

"Nice to meet all of you" Ming said genuinely. Hiro was smiling beside her. "May I join you?" she asked still a bit scared.

"Pssshht girl, come sit here!" Caesar said with a smile patting an empty space next to him. Ming smiled widely before joining the gang with Hiro. This was going to take a while, but Ming was ready for the challenge.

Later that day…

The crew had done their homework together on the grandstands and ate a late afternoon meal that was bought by Hiro and Ming. Jazmine was walking to Dorothy with Huey and Riley before they were stopped by a voice.

"Jazmine! Huey!" Ming called in her adorable accent.

Jazmine turned around and smiled, "Hey Ming! What's up?" she asked as Ming approached the trio.

"May I talk to you two?" Ming asked looking at both Jazmine and Huey.

"Ugh, sure" Jazmine replied before all three walked not too far away from Dorothy.

"I…I just want to apologise. As much as I'm starting afresh, that does not mean I can ignore my mistakes. I want to say sorry to the both of you, a lot" Ming said to the ground before lifting her head up and meeting Jazmine's emerald eyes.

"Jazmine, I'm sorry for coming off clingy or fake when I first met you. I'm sorry I turned mean after some time, but most of all, I'm sorry I tried to intrude on you and Huey's friendship. Huey was the only person I ever really had some respect for when I first came here and I therefore thought that nobody else should have my respect. Also due to that, I grew very jealous of your friendship because I somehow knew I would never have such a strong friendship with Huey like you two. That's why I sent that dumb message as well. I've come to realise that I was wrong." She said as she looked deep into the mulatto's eyes. "I also want to apologise for the disrespect I gave you in your own home and in front of your friends. I really do pray of making everything better and again, I am really sorry."

There was a small silence before Jazmine started smiling widely. She stepped towards Ming and gave her a sincere hug, Ming hesitantly returned it. "I'm sorry I decked you in the face." Jazmine apologised with a chuckle. Ming returned the chuckle before they let go. "Apology accepted."

Ming nodded with a smile before she slowly turned towards Huey. Huey had his hands in his pocket and was looking at Ming. Her breath hitched in her throat at the way Huey was staring at her, it made her really nervous, because she could tell by his eyes that he was still pissed.

"Freeman. Look, I have made some crappy decisions and they have gotten me nowhere. I'm sorry I acted so clingy, and a bit stalkerish when we first started our friendship. I now understand what you meant by earning your friendship now, and I am open to that now. I'm sorry I sent you a libellous message and I tried to hurt your best friend. I can tell that whatever hurts her, hurts you. I really hope on broadening our friendship and I apologise for my mistakes. Can you forgive me?" Ming said with a bit of fear in her voice for his response.

Huey looked to the side, but then looked back at Ming. A moment later, Huey nodded and let out his hand to Ming. She smiled as she took his hand and shook it. Jazmine smiled and soon after, they were all making a bit of small talk before they all decided to leave.

As Jazmine and Huey entered the car w, Jazmine smiled. "You know, she really is not that bad."

"Hold on Jazmine. We might have forgiven her, but we still need to be careful. Don't let your guard down." He stated as he started the ignition and drove.

Jazmine nodded her head before taking out her notebook.

"Oh hell no Jazmine. You have been scribbling in that book the whole day" Huey said irritated. He quickly snatched the notebook from her grasp and put it in the compartment on the driver's side.

"Huey! No, please!" Jazmine exclaimed totally flabbergasted.

"Leave it for ten minutes" he ordered. She threw herself down on the passenger seat and exhaled over exaggeratedly. Huey just rolled his eyes before they parked outside his house.

They took out their books and bags before heading inside his house. While Huey went upstairs, she quickly went outside and got her notebook. She hide it underneath her jacket before heading back inside. By the time Huey came back downstairs, he was clueless.

"Water?" he said approaching his fridge in the kitchen.

"Yeah, okay" she replied with ease as she sat down on the couch next to Riley.

Huey nodded before he quickly went into the kitchen got her a bottle.

"Nigga what about me?" Riley whined.

Huey rolled his eyes and threw Riley a Coke. Riley smiled and nodded at his brother.

After they drank a bit of water, Huey got up and beckoned Jazmine to follow. They headed out the door and started walking by the sidewalk. Jazmine first was very confused to where they were going, but then smiled when she took note of their directions.

It was an easy ten minute walk to the hill and the weather was pleasant to begin with. This just made the mood even more peaceful. As they started taking the walk up the hill, Jazmine smiled.

"When was the last time we were here?" she asked looking at the nature around her.

"Just before summer" he answered. Jazmine's eyes popped open at that. Had it really been that long since they came here?

"Well it feels good to be back!" she exclaimed as she fell back onto the grass. Huey just eyed her and rolled his eyes. Jazmine just giggled.

As they sat down and relaxed, they watched the sunset. This is one of the best things about their hill. The hill had its perfect oak tree, its perfect grass, its perfect weather and its perfect view of Woodcrest. It was just, beautiful.

Huey and Jazmine were silent as they took in the sunset's beauty. Jazmine sat herself up and finally took out her notebook and pen before scribbling down in it. As she started writing, she heard a loud growl from Huey.

"For God's sake Jazmine! What is up with you and that book today! Damnit!" he exclaimed out of frustration. His eyes got slightly brighter and his natural scowl deepened. He was puffing a bit and unconsciously pouting due to his anger. Jazmine just analysed him before bursting out into laughter.

"What? What now? Is your damn notebook making knock knock jokes or somethin'?" he asked totally flushed. If he had not controlled his anger the way he did, his accent would have popped out.

"You're so cute when you're angry!" she exclaimed playing with his cheek, which he shoved away with annoyance, but Jazmine carried on laughing. Then, there was a moment of silence.

"May I at least ask what's in it?" he asked after a while.

Jazmine blushed and shrugged while avoiding eye contact with Huey.

"Jazmine." He called.

"I-I've been writing…" she started. Huey just waited for her to finish. "I've been writing songs."

Huey gave his signature eyebrow raise. "You, write songs?"

Jazmine blushed again and nodded. Huey may know a lot of things about Jazmine, but not everything.

"May I hear the one you've been working on?" he asked, trying to not sound picky.

"S-sure, but don't laugh at my singing, okay?" she asked shyly.

Huey nodded.

Jazmine gingerly paged back in her book before she sat straight. She closed her eyes and breathed.

"Like lullabies you are, forever in my mind" she sung with her eyes still closed.

"I see you in all, the pieces in my life." She continued.

"Though you weren't mine, you were my first love." She sung as she opened her eyes and looked at her notebook.

What Jazmine did not know was that she had captured Huey's full attention.

"…I wanted to go away with you… and I will leave all my troubles here. I wanted to run away with you… and I will bring all my dreams and fears." She let her head fall back and closed her eyes as she sung her chorus, "Like lullabies you are, forever in my mind. I see you in all, the pieces in my life. Though you weren't mine... Like lullabies you are, forever in my mind. I see you in all, the pieces in my life. Though you weren't mine, you were my first love…"

She turned to face Huey and sang silently, "You were my first love."

…

Huey could be going stir crazy, but he felt like that song was meant for him, but he did not want to get ahead of himself. Yet, it felt like she was speaking to him directly more than just singing. Huey stared into Jazmine's jade eyes.

Shit, it's happening again.

His stomach tightened and his heart race quickened as well as his breathing.

Jazmine was staring right back at him and was starting to flush. 'I need to. I have to…'

Jazmine went forward and kissed Huey tenderly on the lips longingly. She felt her heart really give in into the kiss, before she let their lips separate and their foreheads connect instead.

"Jazmine," Huey started, with his breath heavy, "who's that song dedicated to?"

Jazmine kept their foreheads together and uttered something that her heart desperately needed to spill.

"…You."

* * *

Songs:

Lullabies – Yuna


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: So like, there's this thing called Matric, but in America you guys call it Senior Year. So, a sister has been on that book tip. I really am sorry for going ghost on you guys and I apologise. I have just been really busy. I'm happy to say that I will be updating regularly again and not leave you guys in the dirt. I tried to write as much as possible. I also need to get my writer juices flowing again as well. So I am taking in any criticisms , I always do :) Errors, names, etc. just tell me. I've checked myself, but sometimes I miss things so yeah xD.

I think it's best for you guys to skim or reread chapter 10 for this chapter. Enjoy everyone! God bless :)

* * *

Chapter Eleven: The Duo

Huey's eyes widened and he could have sworn his heart was going to explode out of his chest.

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Jazmine opened her eyes and made them look into Huey's eyes. She needed a response. Any response. She would not be able to be sane if she does not get a reaction out of him, because she loves him. She's loved Huey for almost seven years. Seven years! If it was just a silly crush then it would not have lasted the way it has for the past years. Jazmine has embraced this feeling with both arms. She was unconditionally in love with Huey Percival Freeman.

It was silent as they stared at each other. Jazmine's eyes seemed to go a richer shade of emerald. She was scared, really scared, and Huey could tell. However, she was not the only person that was scared right now.

"Jazmine…" he started. Jazmine just looked deeper into his eyes, trying to look for something, anything. Then she found it. She could see so much raw emotion in his eyes.

'Oh my word, is he…'

"Jazmine, I…" he started again, but his words were caught in his throat. He closed his eyes, looked to the side, and then breathed. When he exhaled, he opened his eyes and looked back at Jazmine. She had this pleading look in her eyes.

"Say something" she whispered. Her whisper was so low, that it was shocking that even he could hear it.

Huey was still silent.

'Screw it' she thought as she sat down properly next to him with her knees against her chest and her chin sitting on her knees. She closed her eyes. She wants to cry, not because Huey is not replying, but because her own emotions are just too overwhelming for her own good. So she spilled.

"You know, you irritate me so much." She started. "For seven years your presence has irritated me. It has irritated me in the sense that you make my brain get all stupid at times and make heart rate increase. I cannot deal with it, Huey. I can't. If I keep on living like this, I will burst. I hate the fact that I'm only seen as that 'friend' and not something more, because I want something more. My heart wants something more. It has been wanting something more for seven goddamn years, Huey. What I'm trying to say is that…is that I really, really… really like you Freeman, and I can't hide it anymore."

She inhaled before she continued. "I appreciate the fact that you have always been so straight forward with me. It shows that you are really honest and that you would not hide anything from me. Of course as a dumbass kid, I would at some of your harsh moments, but if it wasn't for it I would not have the strength and tolerance I have today. I'm not as naïve as I was, because you gave me knowledge. You also gave me love. Love in really weird ways, but it was super cool. I like your afro, I like your eyes, I like it when you scrowl, when you get angry…sometimes. I like a lot of things about you Freeman. And I repeat, I really, really like you." She concluded as she blinked slowly and gathered everything she just said.

There was a moment of silence before Huey spoke again.

"I feel as if it has always been there, but I never knew it" he said as he laid his back onto the grass. "You know, you have been irritating me as well, a lot. I'm not one to say these kind of things, but, you make brain get all stupid too" he said to the sky. Like Jazmine said, Huey was always straight forward with her.

Jazmine had scooted over next to him and laid down as well. They were both looking at the dimming sky. The sun was hugging the buildings and hills of Woodcrest with its warm aura and the clouds danced in the sky. She hesitantly put her hand over Huey's as they looked at the sky. Huey grabbed hold her hand as soon as he felt her baby soft skin against his own.

"So, what does this mean?" Jazmine asked looking at the sky.

"It means, I want our brains to be stupid together. Do you want that?" Huey said while looking at the sky as well.

"Yeah, yeah I do" she said squeezing his hand.

Huey returned the squeeze before finally turning his head to look at Jazmine. Jazmine could feel his gaze on her and therefore slowly turned her head as well. However, she had not expected what graced Huey's face.

A smile.

At the Pizza Hut…

It was towards the end of the school week and everything seemed to be going back to normal. There was no Ming drama, no boyfriend issues or friends having fights. Everything was really getting back to shape and everyone seemed happy. Too happy actually, and Cindy had noticed. Jazmine and Skylar have been super happy lately and she had to know what was going with her best friend and favourite cousin.

It was Friday and everyone decided that they would take the weekend easily. No parties, no clubs. Just a calm chilled out weekend with the squad. They all decided that they would have a bike day tomorrow and then have a board game marathon at Caesar's. It has been a while since the gang has done something like this.

They had just ordered their pizzas and were currently just making a racket in the restaurant. Cindy was getting really suspicious, because Riley and Skylar have all of a sudden have gotten really close and Huey and Jazmine have just been weird. Did Cindy mention that Skylar has late night talks with Riley on the phone? He doesn't talk to her much anymore, and Cindy was surprisingly getting really sad. They were also having Football Fridays. Football Fridays! Riley and Cindy used to have Basketball Tuesdays. That does not sound as cool as Football Fridays. Why isn't there a day in the week that starts with the letter 'B'? She wants her days with Riley to sound cool too! Wait…why is Cindy pondering this so much?

She shouldn't be caring so much. She shouldn't over analyse things. They're just friends and Skylar is really getting accepted into the crew. Shouldn't she be happy? She really…likes Caesar, doesn't she?

"So who's up for bowling?" Hiro asked rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"Yeah-yeah!" Riley said as he jumped out of his seat with a pizza slice in his mouth.

"I'm down" Caesar agreed.

"Cool! May I have the lumo ball?" Jazmine asked, causing the group to laugh. She blushed slightly as she laughed with her friends.

"I will smash all of you guys!" Skylar exclaimed cockily with a playful smirk.

"Not on my watch, I'm a beast at this type of thing" Ming said playfullly nudging Skylar.

Skylar chuckled, "Oh really? Show me what you got! I'll even race you to the booth!" Skylar said already getting up to run. By the time she finished her sentence, she was off.

"Hey! Foul play!" Ming shouted as she laughed and ran to the bowling alley not too far from the restaurant.

"C-Murph, you down?" Riley asked his closest friend.

"C-Murph?"

"C-Murph!"

"Huh?" Cindy responded when she finally came out of her thoughts. Riley gave her a questioning look.

"Ey, you a'ight?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm cool" Cindy said trying to act normal once more. She was over-thinking. She needed to calm down.

"Well, get yo' ass up!" Riley exclaimed trying to lighten her mood. Riley was not dumb. He knew when she was really fine or not. Something was bothering her, but he thought to stay out of it until she actually feels comfortable to talk about it. It was always like that. Whenever one of the two needed to say something, they would always wait until they were ready. Cindy was not ready.

Everyone was outside walking down the block to the bowling alley, and by the time they got there Skylar and Ming had already gotten them a booth.

Hiro decided that he could possibly get closer to Skylar and therefore wasted no time.

"Hey, Skye. I'm gonna go get a Chunky Monkey. Want one?" he asked with a smile.

Skylar had to admit that Hiro was quite a looker. In fact, all the gents in the squad were really handsome. There was something about each of them that made them unique in their own ways. Huey had his stoic demeanour and afro, Riley had his sly attitude and cornrows, Caesar had his friendly, funny but yet flirty personality with the dreads to match. Hiro had his carefree spirit and cool fohawk fade. Hiro's fade was similar to Zain Malik's.

"Yeah sure, why not?" she said with a smile as she walked with Hiro to the ice-cream bar.

Riley watched this. He just chuckled as he saw his friend walking away with Skylar. Soon after, he could feel eyes on him. He turned to see his brother and sister staring him down. This made Riley uncomfortable because they have been doing this ever since last week when Skylar came over.

"Niggas, what?!" Riley exclaimed exasperated. If they looked at him like that again, he was going to blow.

They stared at him for a couple more seconds before they continued to bowl. Well, Jazmine continued to bowl. Huey was just watching everyone else. Riley rolled his eyes and went to join everyone else.

"So I see you're really getting used to Whitecrest" Hiro said as he paid for their ice-creams.

"Yeah, it's going better than I ever imagined." She replied with a faint chuckle.

"I'm glad you're here though. You don't get to meet the realest people here."

"So you think I'm real?" she teased.

"Yeah man! I mean, this place has had some serious issues in the past." Hiro replied.

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"I'm super glad that I'm your friend too" she said honestly. Hiro smiled at this and gave her a friendly side hug. His heart started to race a bit at her confrontation. Damn, he really does like this girl.

"Here are your orders. Two chunky monkeys right?" the cashier girl asked kindly.

Skylar and Hiro both nodded their heads as they got their orders. "Cool. You two are really cute together by the way" the cashier said with a genuine smile.

This made Hiro freeze. "Ugh, hehe, she's, not my girlfriend" he stated looking down and rubbing the back of his neck. He hoped they couldn't see his cheeks turn red at the compliment.

Skylar just smiled and laughed at the girl, "Yeah we're just buds."

Ouch.

"Hiro, wait for me a sec? I need the bathroom" she said as she handed Hiro her ice cream.

"Sure" he answered a bit flatly. Her last statement was still sinking in. He knew that she was vibing with Riley, but that just hurt.

As she walked off, the cashier just turned and smirked at Hiro. He got uncomfortable really quick. She laughed at this.

"Friendzone?" she asked with another chuckle.

Hiro scratched his head before he answered, "Yeaaah."

She laughed and then tried to comfort our favourite Asian. "Don't worry, it's only time."

"Wait what?" Hiro asked confused, but before he could get a reply Skylar came back and they started heading back to their booth.

They started to have a good conversation on the way back. Skylar had not realised how little she actually knows about Hiro. The only thing she ever really knew about him was that he was biracial, a football player and virtuoso. She got to know that Hiro was allergic to dust, left handed and hates cats.

Skylar has been so focused on what Riley loves or hates that she has not been able to get to know the rest of the crew more. She has to admit that she has been catching feelings for the cornrowed teenager. She flowed well with the chump, and she was glad that they were both on good terms compared to their first encounter. She decided that she was going to take this opportunity and get to know the fam better.

The bowling went smoothly and everyone had a good time. However, it was time for the gang to split. They all went their separate ways and bid farewell. They would of course be reunited for tomorrow's activities.

At Woodcrest Estates…

Skylar had noticed that her cousin had been off all night. As they entered their home, they went upstairs together.

" 'Murph?" Skylar asked worriedly.

"Yeah wassup girl?" Cindy replied as they continued their walk upstairs.

"Are you gonna tell me what's bothering you?" as they reached the second floor of their home.

Cindy froze. Shit, what does she do now?

"Cindy?" Skylar asked now getting a bit irritated.

"Mine or yours?" Cindy asked.

Since Skylar already knew what she meant, she answered, "Your room."

They headed to Cindy's room and sat down on her bed.

…

"Well?" Skylar asked.

"I've just been thinking a lot lately" Cindy said as she started fiddling with her fingers.

"About what? Huey and Jazmine?"

Cindy whipped her head to her cousin. "What? They really are dating?" she asked with eyes wide.

Skylar chuckled. "Well, they're pretty obvious. I saw them sucking each other's faces one day after school at the back of the grandstands. Makes sense though, because Huey does not seem like a fan of PDA."

Cindy looked off into the distance. "Huh, never thought of that. But why wouldn't Jazz tell me? I'm her day one bitch!"

"Huey could have told her not to, Cindz"

"You seem to know a lot about everyone" Cindy teased with a smirk.

This made Skylar blush slightly. "Yeah, I'm really getting to know everyone a lot."

"I've seen you've been getting to know Riley a lot" Cindy said with an even funnier smirk. If she wanted answers, she has to do it the old C-Murph way.

This got Skylar to nearly tip over her bed, which made Cindy laugh. Skylar quickly balanced herself and blushed furiously and looked in the other direction away from her cousin.

"Is it that obvious?" Skylar asked still looking away embarrassed.

"Naaah, I just know your ass. Girl you ain't slick!" Cindy exclaimed while slightly pushing her. "Wandering off together, playing video games, girl please!"

"Okay, I like him!" Skylar confessed burying her face in her soft hands.

Cindy gave a big smile, but inside her heart was slowly breaking. Her cousin has a crush on her best friend. Yet, that's not the bigger problem here, why was she so effected by it?

"I knew it bitch!" Cindy exclaimed pulling Skylar down the bed with her. The girls were holding each other and a giggle fest began in Cindy's room.

"Please don't tell anyone?"

"Who do you think I am?! Nah girl I won't say nothin'!"

"Thanks Cindy, really"

"I got you girl, I got you" Cindy reassured her as she hugged her shoulders. As Skylar buried her head into her cousin's shoulder, Cindy frowned at the new news. Skylar likes Riley, and there's a possible chance that, Riley could like her as well.

On Timid Deer Lane…

Jazmine, Riley and Huey had reached their destination as they parked in the Freeman's driveway. Everyone had gone out the car. Riley had walked into his house while Huey walked Jazmine to her front porch. They had been dating for almost a week, and Jazmine was the happiest she's ever been. Huey as well, but he would never admit that. What was amazing was that they weren't that different from before. It was more that there were now new bonuses to their relationship. They were walking and chatting before Jazmine bombarded Huey with a statement.

"You know, you still haven't told about how you feel about Ming" she stated randomly.

"Jazmine, really?" Huey asked rolling his eyes.

"No, I genuinely want to know" she stated calmly with a smile. It might have been a while back since she's asked that question, but since they are now together, she just needs to know for reassurance. Jazmine is quite an insecure girl.

"When I first met Ming when I was younger, I thought she was okay, but then she backstabbed me and tried to make me look like a fool in front of everyone. We all know how that turned out" Huey said. Jazmine shrugged and beckoned him to carry on. "After that, I did not really care about her, until I broke her leg."

"But she broke your arm. So you guys are even I guess?"

"Yeah well, it doesn't make what we did right. Right now, I don't trust her, for obvious reasons, but I won't shut her down since she really did seem to want to befriend us. Therefore, I think Ming is confusing." He concluded.

Jazmine laughed, nodded her head and shrugged. Huey did not bother asking her how she felt about her because he already witnessed that. They continued their walk until they finally reached their destination.

"This is me. See you tomorrow?" she asked shyly.

"Yeah" he answered with his hands in his pockets. Jazmine went to open her door when her wrist was suddenly caught by Huey's hand. "Ugh, may I kiss you?" he asked as a faint blush grew on his face.

Jazmine blushed and smiled before standing in front of Huey again. She gave Huey a cheesy smile before going on her tippy toes to peck him on the lips.

"Don't ask next time, it's lame" she said with a giggle before standing normally again. For the first time in her life, she could see a blush on Huey Freeman's cheeks. She did not point that out though, because that was most likely the last thing he wanted to hear.

Huey nodded before turning to go across the street. Jazmine waited until he was in his house before finally entering her own. She closed the door behind her before letting out a content sigh. She had the biggest smile on her face. Not only were her and Huey Freeman together, he smiled at her and actually asked for a kiss. Her heart was blooming and she felt like she was on cloud nine. As she started her journey up the stairs, she heard someone clearing their throat. She turned to see that it was her mother and she had a playful smirk on her lips.

"Ugh, hey mom" she greeted nervously.

"Don't you 'hey mom' me!" Sarah exclaimed as she approached her daughter. "You're glowing and smiling like an idiot! Now spill!"

Jazmine blushed furiously and looked to the side while rubbing her arm.

"Jazzy?"

"We're…dating—"

"AAAHHHHH!" Sarah squealed as she ran and hugged her daughter, almost squeezing the daylights out of her.

"Mom, you're, chocking me" Jazmine struggled to say due to her mother's assault.

Sarah let her go and grabbed Jazmine's cheeks. "I'm so happy for you! Ugh, finally! I told you you had nothing to worry about!" she exclaimed.

Jazmine was chuckling at her mother's behaviour. She was being more mature than her mother at this moment.

"I'm so happy!" Sarah exclaimed once more while squishing her daughter's cheeks and kissing her forehead.

"Mom, you're smothering me!" Jazmine exclaimed while laughing. Sarah finally calmed down and allowed her daughter to breath.

"Okay, I already started dinner, go upstairs and relax, because I'll be making your favourite meal to celebraaaate!" Sarah chimed as she scurried to the kitchen.

"I love you too, mom. Where's dad?" Jazmine asked.

"Oh, he's still at work. He'll be home at 18:00" Sarah said from the kitchen. "Now relaaax! Be happy! You finally have the one thing you've always wanted!"

"Okay, okay!" Jazmine said now going up the stairs. "Love you!"

"Love you more!" Sarah replied.

Yeah, Jazmine was ending on a good note.

 _Saturday, August 22_

Jazmine had woken up that morning to the smell of her favourite breakfast in the world, pancakes! Jazmine inhaled the wonderful smell of pancakes as she jumped out of her bed. She wasted no time as she made her bed and brushed her teeth before scurrying to the first floor of her house.

"Bacon Pancakes, makin' bacon pancakes! Take some bacon and I will put it in a pancake. Bacon pancakes that's what I'm gonna make, bacon pancaaaakes!" Jazmine sung as she ran down the stairs of her home.

"Be careful. You might trip and crack your skull open"

"AHHHHH!" Jazmine screamed to her unexpected visitor.

"Huey! Gosh, really?" Jazmine exclaimed as she covered her face trying to calm down from her scare. She put her hand on her chest afterwards as her heart rate went back to normal.

Before she could lash out at her boyfriend, her father cracked out laughing.

"Oh Jazzy! Your reaction was priceless! Good one Huey!" Tom exclaimed as he let out his hand for a hi-5. Huey just looked at Tom's hand before Tom slowly lowered in defeat. "Good morning though honey! Ready for brunch?"

"Brunch?" Jazmine asked confused.

"Jazmine it's 11:30." Huey stated flatly.

"What?!" she squealed once more.

"Yes sweetheart, you sleep like a rock." Tom said while finishing off the last of the pancakes.

Jazmine blushed slightly before sitting down next to Huey.

"Good morning though" Huey reassured his best friend and girlfriend.

"Good morning" she replied with a smile.

"I like your hair" he said as he finally took in Jazmine's appearance. Jazmine's hair was as wild as ever and it framed her heart-shaped face perfectly. Usually people look like crap when they wake up, but Jazmine looked beautiful.

"Thank you, I woke up like thiiis!" she teased as she danced in her chair now getting up in Huey's grill playfully. Huey rolled his eyes and Jazmine laughed.

"You don't look too bad yourself" she said genuinely as she took in her boyfriend's appearance. Huey wore loose fitted blue jeans with a plain white t-shirt and black All Stars. So simple, but so hot all at the same time.

Huey just nodded in appreciation, which made Jazmine smile. Huey has never really taken in Jazmine's beauty, until now. She looked so refreshed with her beautiful wild locks falling over her face and shoulders. She looked even prettier with her loosely fitted jt one pyjamas. Her yellow skin glows in the late morning sun. Then it dawned on Huey. He has quite a catch.

"What pancakes and fruit?" she asked taking Huey out of his thoughts.

"Ugh, yeah sure" he approved before Jazmine stood to get them plates.

Huey looked her get the plates out and dish up brunch. He suddenly could not take his eyes off his girlfriend. Girlfriend, woah, girlfriend. Jazmine Elizabeth DuBois is his girlfriend. Did all of this really just dawn on him now? Did he really just need to see her morning face like this to understand the happiness it gives him to know that Jazmine DuBois, is his girlfriend?

"Huey!"

"Huh?"

"You okay? You've been staring for a while now" Jazmine said with a small chuckle as she picked at her food. "Plus you haven't touched your food."

Wait, how long had he been staring?

"Ugh, my bad" he said as he picked a peach from his plate. Jazmine smiled at how goof Huey was actually being. She liked the fact that he was looking at her, and only her. It made her feel special and that only she can capture his attention, like now.

After finishing off their brunch and cleaning the dishes together, Jazmine went upstairs to get ready for Caesar's. She decided to tie her hair up in a messy topknot. She wore tan lace shorts and a peach coloured loose shirt with red Vans. She was going to be riding a bike so she had to lay back. She didn't bother much today about her appearance because she was going to be hanging out with the squad and her boyfriend. What more could she ask for?

She joined Huey and Riley outside as she grabbed her bike and joined them on the street.

"Hey Riley" Jazmine greeted her little brother. Riley and Jazmine are too close now for just being called a friend.

"Sup, Stephanie" he teased.

"Whatever happened to Mariah?" she joked.

"Nah you look mo' like Stephanie Bertrem Rose. Thought about it"

"I still prefer Jazmine though" she teased with a smile.

"Pssht I got you girl" he reassured her with a shove to the arm. He really was like a brother to Jazmine.

"Ready?" Huey asked them while rolling his eyes.

"Yeah" Jazmine and Riley said at the same time before the trio rode off into the distance.

At the Caesar's…

"Anika you ready?" Cesar asked his little sister.

"Yeah, just let me get my helmet!" she exclaimed from her room.

Caesar decided to let Anika join in on the fun today since he usually does not get to hang out with her like this. Therefore, he will cherish every opportunity he gets with his little sister. He loves her too much to not cherish these opportunities. For a seven year old, she was super cool, and that's why everyone in the squad loves her as well. Therefore, she has been accepted into the crew since day one.

By the time Caesar and Anika went outside, he could already see Riley, Jazmine and Huey ride into his cal-da-sac.

"Yoooo waddup biiitcccch!" Riley yelled while riding his bike, throwing up a gang sign.

"Riley! Code – A!" Caesar hissed while blocking Anika's ears.

"Oh shi- ugh, I mean snapple! Wha's good baby girl?" Riley asked with a goofy ass smile.

"Hey Riley" she greeted with her beautifully scewed teeth. Her adult are finally starting to crack in heavy.

"Eeeeyyy yo' canine is coming loose!" Riley exclaimed examining Anika's mouth as soon as he parked his bike.

"Yeah, they're really big, see?" she asked excitedly lifting up her lip for Riley to get a full view.

Riley chuckled at that. "Growing up too fast up in here, Ani."

"Are you drinking milk?" Huey asked frankly to the seven year old girl.

"Yeah! And I'm brushing my teeth thirty minutes after every meal" Anika explained proudly with her head held high.

"Don't forget to—" Huey started.

"Floss?" Anika said with a slick smirk on her adorable chocolate face.

Huey gave her an impressed look and nod. "I guess someone will have beautiful teeth in your family."

"Ey!" Caesar exclaimed, which made everyone laugh. "My teeth are flawless!"

"Whatever" was all Huey said as he rode one lap around the cal-de-sac.

"Jazmine!" Anika exclaimed as she saw the beautiful mulatto girl in front of her.

"Hey Ani!" Jazmine greeted the child with an enormous hug and smile.

"You're still so pretty!" Anika squealed as she tried to squeeze the hell out of Jazmine.

"And your beauty grows everyday angel!" Jazmine replied.

"Have you seen Cindy?" Anika asked with her beautiful grey eyes.

"I'm right here boo bear!" Cindy yelled as she cycled into their street with Skylar, Ming and Hiro right behind her.

"Hey Cindy!" Anika exclaimed while still choking Jazmine with her tight hug.

"Finishing killing Jazz before you kill me" Cindy chuckled as she witnessed Anika suffocate her best friend.

As much as Jazmine and Cindy are best friends, they haven't been acting like it lately. This links back to Cindy's thoughts from the previous day. She has not been able to have a day with Jazmine lately because both have been either too busy, or not busy enough. A lot of crap is changing, but will the squad be able to mend it back or is this some sort of test to see if they're really hommies till they die.

After greeting each other, the squad did their rounds on Caesar's side of the neighbourhood, they all gathered inside and snacked on whatever was edible and went hulk rage on monopoly. Riley and Cindy were having a difficult time trying not to curse in front of Anika, which made her laugh.

It was almost seven o'clock in the evening when Cindy decided to step out on the porch for a second. She sat down on a creaky step with her Kool-Aid and looked off into the distance, thinking. Thinking about anything, everything.

"Waddup 'Murph " was all her other best friend said before he sat down next to her on the step.

"Eeyy" she chimed back half-heartedly.

"You gonna tell me yet, or nah?"

"About what?" Cindy asked, playing dumb. However, she should have thought twice before deciding to play dumb to one of the people that know her like the back of their hand.

Riley just turned his head to Cindy and gave her that knowing face. Riley tilted his head, raised one of his eyebrows and gave a sarcastic smirk. It was like a more playful, yet ghetto version of Huey's signature confusion face.

"Really nigga?" Riley questioned sarcastically.

Cindy just shrugged. Riley sighed.

"You know, you still fam. Just because shit has been weird in the squad doesn't mean you gotta act weird too. I ain't gon' push you tah say shit you not ready to say, but don't forget if you do have somethin' tah say, a nigga is here for you. You haven't been doing well for while now 'Murph, and I gotta say it's scarin' the shit outta me. Sometimes, keepin' shit in makes things worse than better."

Cindy nodded. She wasn't gonna say much, because, well, she didn't wanna say much.

"Thanks. Sorry for makin' you shit yo' pants" she chuckled with a hald-hearted smile.

"Ey" Riley started. Cindy lifted her head up to look at her friend. Worst mistake tonight. His beautiful hazel eyes were boaring holes into her face. He was too beautiful. Too sweet. Too real.

"I got you" he finished with that gorgeous ass smile. His smiles must be contagious because Cindy started smiling as well.

Cindy could not stop staring, and her heart would not slow down. Her stomach all of a sudden was so tight. Her palms were sweaty as fuck, and her throat was dry as hell.

Shit.

Ohh shit.

… Oooooohh shiiiit.

'I think I love you' was all she thought before a tear stained her cheek.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, I hope that satisfied a few of you guys :) will be speeding up the pace as well ;) I'll see you guys in a bit! R&R - Elle


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Told you I would upload! :) Please remember to note me of any overlooked errors. Enjoy guys xx

'...' - Thoughts

"..." - Speech

* * *

Chapter Twelve: Tolerance

It has been weeks since Skylar and Ming have moved into Woodcrest, Maryland. It was now late October, and Autumn was not wasting time at all. It started to get a little chillier, and the fun of shorts and tank tops started to fade away.

Everything is changing colour, the leaves that is. Reds, oranges, browns and mustard yellows are the new green to the trees that surround Maryland. Autumn, the season of death some might call it. Others would call it the season of change. The season for ripe fruits to be grabbed or left there to die. Change. That is a word that Skylar loved to associate Autumn with; Change.

The auburn leaves fell from its tree and onto the cold grey pavement beside Skylar and Riley. They are not sure how long they have been at this for, but it seems like a good forty minutes. They have gotten really close since Skylar's arrival and she was really happy about it. Skylar started to catch feelings for Riley, hard. And she had no idea if she should act on it or wait to see if her pitiful heart would subside.

Skylar has been happy with everything, but her cousin and her crush have been going through some rowdy obstacles. Cindy has been avoiding Riley ever since last month at Caesar's. Not only did Riley notice, but Skylar did too. Cindy tends to forget that her friends are not idiots. She also forgot that she is troubled with two of the most observant people within their circle. She must be playing dumb if she thinks that this miniature feud she's starting is going to go smoothly.

"You're such a liar!" Skylar exclaimed while laughing heartedly at Riley with a teasing smile.

"Nah-ah girl! Fo'real! I told him straight up that this is America, my president is black and that my lambo is blue!" Riley defended as he too started to crack out laughing.

"And to get the fuck out of the hotel room?"

"Damn straight! Ain't no British punk gonna come here and run Reezy!" he exclaimed with a smug look on his face.

"Sorry there mister Fundraiser" Skylar teased with a playful push to his arm.

"And guess what? C-Murph was there the whole time! We almost died together!"

"Shit, for real?" she asked with her hazel eyes sparkling in the autumn weather.

"Yeah man! She's my thug! There's no way I would go do somethin' without my day one by my side. It's Cindy motherfuckin' McPhearson" Riley explained with a dazzling smile. Skylar gave one straight back before there was a moment of silence.

"Still?" Skylar asked softly to her crush. The mood had suddenly changed.

"Yeah. I'm starting tah get worried Skye. I mean, she never waits this long until she tells me what's buggin' her. Why she dodgin' me? I ain't done shit! Or have I?" he asked worriedly, looking into Skylar's eyes.

"Want me to try again?" Skylar offered with her hand now placed on Riley's shoulder.

"Please?" Riley asked in a small voice. He knows by the way he sounded like a bitch as he asked, but this is Cindy they're talking about. His day one. Why the hell is she beefing him? And there's no way she's going to come close to Riley without freaking out. That is why Skylar was offering to talk to her, again. She is the only person that has access to Cindy in and out of school. Caesar maybe, but that's bae, and Riley is not ready to go that far yet.

"Sure" Skylar answered with a darling smile. "I'll chat to her either later today or tomorrow. I can't make promises though."

"It's ai'ight. Thanks Skye. It means a lot, fo'real."

"It's a pleasure Riley" she replied with equal sincerity in her voice.

"Hey! Rats! It is time to go!" Ming yelled from afar.

"Who tha hell you callin' a rat, bitch?" Riley spat defensively with a scrawl on his face.

"You! Now get your butts over to the car!" Ming spat back just as quickly.

School ended about an hour ago, but some of the squad had to halt because others had extra-curricular activities. Cindy just went to the gym. Ming had karate, even though was pointless because she is already fire at it. Caesar, Hiro and Jazmine had band practice. Huey, well, Huey had nothing. He always had nothing.

"Ming, don' start yo' shit on me" Riley growled staring Ming down. However, Ming just stared right back into Riley's hazel eyes. It took some time for Skylar to realise the sudden stare contest occurring between them. Skylar chuckled and walked passed the two.

"You two need a glass of 'calm the hell down'." Skylar stated bluntly as she walked over to Caesar's Jeep.

Riley growled again, but this time, Ming growled back. Ming has been accepted into the group even after all of the bullshit stunts she pulled. That bitch was lucky she was with easy going people, or else her tantrums would not have been forgiven so easily. She has been mutual with everyone lately, and she's actually getting along with people outside the squad.

"Man, I'm tired! Fuck this" Riley blurtered out as he walked briskly passed Ming to the Jeep.

"Long-dou, one, Freeman, zero!" Ming yelled as he walked passed.

"Whatever bitch!"

"Riley, you really need to stop calling every girl you know a bitch." Huey explained as his brother came closer to the vehicle.

"If they stop actin' like 'em, then I won' call 'em that!" his little brother spat.

Huey rolled his eyes, "Just get in the car."

"Ugh! Jazmine, c'mon! You're heavy!" Hiro whined as he held his friend on his back.

"No! It's your fault you made a silly bet that you'd obviously lose!" she chuckled as she bounced on Hiro's back.

"Can't we deal on something else?"

"No! I'm tired, my legs, and my voice!"

"Well, whose fault is that?"

"YOURS YOU IDIOT!"

Caesar and Cindy laughed next to them as they all walked over to the parking lot.

"Don't you think Huey will get emotional if he saw this?" Hiro teased.

"No, because he appreciates bets, unlike you" Jazmine teased.

It is no secret that Huey and Jazmine are dating. On the contrary, it never was a secret in the first place. They just did not feel the need to announce their relationship. Therefore, the squad had to figure it out sooner or later. Everyone knew now, even the whole school, obviously by word of mouth. It's been a month and a bit ever since they started dating, and it has been beautiful ever since.

"Okay Jazmine I'm sorry I underestimated you! Now get off!" Hiro whined as he dragged himself and Jazmine to her car.

Jazmine playfully put her finger on her lip as if she was thinking and looked to the sky. "No, I won't get off until we reach our destination. Now charge horsey!"

Hiro just whined and silently sobbed as he piggybacked Jazmine to her car.

As they approached the car Huey took notice and raised a brow, obviously confused.

"Hiro challenged Jazmine to a vocal off." Caesar tried to explain. This made Huey raise his eyebrow even more and tilt his head. His signature look.

"Hiro said he could hold a high note longer than Jazmine. So they betted whoever does sing the highest and longest, will piggyback them for a day." Cindy explained better.

"And now my larynx is sore! Kiss it better Huey!" Jazmine whined as she lifted her head up exposing her slim yellow neck, still while on Hiro's back.

"Ugh-ugh! No hickies while you on my back! Get off!" Hiro exclaimed as he dropped Jazmine gracefully onto the floor.

Jazmine giggled as her heels touched the floor and walked over to her boyfriend and kissed Huey lightly on the cheek before she opened her car.

Jazmine got into her car with Huey, Riley and Skylar while Caesar went in his car with Hiro, Ming and Cindy. This was not surprising for Riley and Skylar, for obvious reasons. However, they kept quiet about it because today was not a day for drama.

"Okay, everyone's going to Cindy's right? Yal didn't leave anything?" Caesar asked as he turned on his ignition. Everyone agreed as they travelled to Cindy's.

Today is Friday, October 23rd. It was also the day the crew promised to go to and support a classmate of theirs at her Open Mike. Her name is Avery and is actually kind of close with the squad, so why not help out a friend? It was beneficiary because it was open mike, and Jazmine, Hiro and Caesar decided to perform as well. So they're all supporting each other.

When everyone got to Cindy's, everyone went their separate ways to get ready. By the time six o'clock rolled around, they got into Uncle Marcus' Land-Rover Defender SVX. It was the only the car the squad could take that could accommodate everyone.

Since Jazmine, Hiro and Caesar were going to be performing, they decided to somehow wear matching colours today. They're band name was 'Navigation', and their symbol was a compass and arrow. Jazmine wore black leggings, a tribal beige and black jersey, caramel brown boots, a burgundy scarf, her hair up in a high poofy pony, a compass necklace and earrings that had a arrows on it. Hiro rocked burgundy chinos, white vans, a beige three-quarter sleeve sweater and a compass themed watch. Caesar slayed beige chinos, a plain black t-shirt with a compass rose on it, classic Timbs, a burgundy trench coat with his dreads tied back in a man bun.

"Niggas be slaying up in here!" Riley complimented his friends, for once in his life.

"Thank you Riley" Jazmine thanked him with a sweet smile, before they headed inside IOTA Club and Café.

"Eyyy! You guys actually came!" Avery exclaimed as she met up with her friends.

"Well you did tell us two months ago, so why not" Caesar said with a kind smile.

Avery nodded. "True, true. I'm just glad you guys came through, really" she said with honesty written all over her gorgeous face. She had deep brown bouncy wavy hair, deep brown eyes, lovely brown skin and a beautifully full square shaped face. She actually looks like a celebrity named Michelle Khare. "I'm glad I could help you three out as well!" she exclaimed, referring to Caesar, Hiro and Jazmine.

"Well, have fun. And good luck" Avery said kindly with both her thumbs up with a huge smile plastered on her face before she ran off behind the stage.

The crew really should thank that girl. She already booked them a table and everything! All they had to do was sit down and order.

"Sup C-Murph. " Riley initiated, for the first time this week.

"Yo" she replied without even flinching as she stuck her nose in the menu. She was sitting right across him.

"How was yo trainin'?" he asked, trying to talk about something, anything.

"Was pretty good, thanks" she said before turning her attention to Caesar. Riley frowned at this. Just how long is this bitch going to play this shit?

"Oh so that's it?" Riley asked, his Chicago accent coming out more than usual. This made Skylar flinched beside him.

Cindy did not say a thing.

"Really nigga?" he asked now raising his voice and his face scrunching up.

"Riley," Skylar whispered as she grabbed his hand from under the table.

'Breathe. Just, breathe.' That was what was going through Riley's mind when he felt Skylar hand grab his. He needs to calm down. He can't make a scene. Not today.

Cindy feels like shit right now. She's been feeling like shit for a month actually. Damnit, she's so useless. How can she not have control over her own feelings? She fucking hates it! All she wants to right now is leap over this table, grab Riley's cornrow filled head and smooch the shit out of those luscious ass lips. 'I wonder what they feel like', she thought. She loves him. She loves him so much, and she's loved him since the beginning, but she needed her damn cousin to figure it out, which is stupid as fuck.

She can't confess or anything right now! Or ever! Her cousin likes him AND she's in her own relationship with Caesar. She can't be a homewrecker like that. She doesn't want to become the new Ming of the group. Ain't nobody got time for that shit. She would also be a hypocrite if she did. Again, ain't nobody got time for that.

Therefore, the only way to help herself avoid any dumbass shit was to keep her distance from her homie, which sucked ass. She missed him, so damn much. She misses Basketball Tuesdays. She misses just going to each other's cribs and just chilling. She misses dissing people with him. She misses getting in shit with him. She misses her best friend.

However, she's been replaced. Skylar McPhearson. Damn Football Fridays, arcade nights, PlayStation after school – all the shit that they used do! So it's cool, it's cool. He probably doesn't need her bitch ass self anyways. Cindy was sad, angry and jealous. That is NOT a good collabo of emotions for a McPhearson.

Breathe.

Just, breathe.

Calm your damn heart, Cynthia!

"And now to welcome to the stage, Avery Agate!" the owner of the café announced, before walking off the stage for Avery.

"Go Avs!" Jazmine and Hiro exclaimed while the rest of the gang just applauded as she went on.

Avery waved to her friends before the stage lights dimmed, and the instruments played.

The band surrounding Avery played some soft keys and chords, starting the song off softly, jyst before she started singing.

"We get it almost every night, when that moon is big and bright. It's a supernatural delight, everybody's dancing in the moonlight." Avery sang, and then the beat dropped. The minute that occurred, the crowd went insane. Heads were nodding, lips were curling and bodies were becoming restless in their seats.

"Damn, who knew Avery was also blessed vocally?" Caesar asked impressed.

"Right?" Hiro exclaimed equally as impressed.

"She's talented" Huey stated plainly. This got everyone's attention.

"Did Huey compliment someone?" Ming asked surprised with her eyes wide.

"He did" Jazmine replied surprised.

This just made Huey roll his eyes. He does not have time for that shit. There was talent on the stage and he was going to listen attentively. It's rare to find such soul in this modern world. In fact, it's just rare to find good music in general these days.

Avery carried on singing, and when she was done, she got a huge applause. A standing ovation to be precise. When she came back down, the gang welcomed her back with cheers, teases and claps. Compliments coming left and right for her. Strangers even walked up to the table just to congratulate her on her beautiful talent.

"Avery that was really good" Ming complimented with a smile.

"Really good? Niggas please! She was flames!" Hiro exclaimed as he gave Avery a kind side hug.

Avery blushed. "Thanks guys, really."

"Was that your own piece?" Jazmine asked curiously. Of course she would ask. Jazmine writes her own songs as well.

"Yeah. They always are"

"Awesome! I do my own too" Jazmine squealed. "We should do a song together, really. That was beautiful."

"Gosh guys! I was good, I get it! Thanks!" Avery flustered with her face turning red. This made the crew laugh. She was just too cute.

After eating their meal, Jazmine, Caesar and Hiro had to prepare themselves for their own performance.

"Well, how's everyone tonight?" the owner of the café asked. Everyone roared in response.

"I'm glad to hear that, because the talent has not stopped! We have more newbies to this stage! They are the great teens from Woodcrest High. Everyone, give it up for Jazmine DuBois, Michael Caesar and Hiro Otomo making the talented band, Navigation!"

The crowed gave an enthusiastic applause as the trio went up on stage. Caesar quickly went to his seat and grabbed his mic.

"Evening Yo!" he greeted the crowd. The crowd yelled a hello back.

"I'm Michael, the lovely girl to my left is Jazmine and my main man to the right is Hiro. Today we'll be giving you a taste of three of our very own songs. We hope you like it."

They got in stance and counted for their first song. Caesar was on the drums, Hiro on the guitar and Jazmine on piano. They all had their own mic for both their instruments and voices.

Caesar clicked his sticks before calmly tapping the tambourines and snares on his drums. Hiro played his guitar. Hiro wasted no time until he started singing. When the chorus came, both Jazmine and Hiro sang, which caused the crowd to applaud. Jazmine then slotted in with her own verse. The song they were singing was very mellow. People were swaying left and right, appreciating their beautiful music. They softened down with their instruments towards and ended gracefully. This ended with the crowd, once again, applauding the trio.

The trio bowed before moving onto their next song. They actually needed the crowd to clap a bit to the beat, well, because it's for the beat. Hiro started his guitar and Caesar started chuckling into the intro. This song was more playful, yet still so smooth. Jazmine starting singing and the mood was more uplifting. She soon added her piano melody to the mix. Some people got up and walked to the front and grooved with the trio next to the stage. Soon, Caesar came in with his rap verse which just completed the song so elegantly.

Their final song was sung solemnly by Jazmine, which the crowd didn't mind, at all. Hiro had to switch to his laptop for the backtrack while Caesar handled the drums so it all grabbed Jazmine's voice beautifully. And believe these three to end off with something sweet, because everything fitted in so well. It was a really good way to end their performance.

After their performance, they were congratulated by everyone. Like, everyone. No seriously, literally everyone in the club congratulated the trio. They even got some thirsty stares from new groupies. It was quite overwhelming.

"Well, yal niggas are basically famous now!" Riley exclaimed to the trio and Avery.

"Thanks Riley" was all they said in unionism as they had a few drinks and dessert.

"Shoutout to Avs for bringing us here!" Skylar exclaimed with her drink up in the air. The gang exclaimed in agreement before they carried on enjoying their night.

 _Later that night …_

The gang was busy enjoying themselves on the dancefloor as they carried on with their night. Riley and Skylar were busy dancing to some of the music the club decided to play. If it was not for Cindy's perennial vision, she would have been basically staring at them dancing. They were laughing and joking around. Stuff that she used to do with Riley.

Breathe.

They've gotten so close, not just emotionally, but physically too. Literally. Skylar's back was against Riley's front.

Breathe.

They were smiling as if they have been dating for years and that this is very casual. They've only known each other for two months!

Breathe.

"I'm glad you're having fun" Skylar said to Riley while she rested against him as they swayed.

"I'm glad you helped me have fun though. Thanks Skye, fo'real. I mean, shit, I would've been so glum if it wasn't for yo' dope ass" he confessed with a chuckle.

"It's always a pleasure Reez"

Breathe.

Skylar turned around and looked up at Riley, with a shy smile. Riley smiled down at her as well. Shit, Riley has been acting like a lil' bitch lately due to all these emitions. They gazed into each other's eyes. Hazel met hazel, and shit was it intoxicating.

B-breathe.

Soon, Skylar was looking at Riley's lips, and he could tell, because he was looking at hers too.

BREATHE.

"-Ow! Babe, my foot" Caesar chuckled as he held onto Cindy's hips and kissed her jawline.

"Sorry about that I was—"she started.

B…brea…

…

…

That was just thing. Cindy could not breathe, because the air was stuck in her throat when she saw Riley and Skylar's breathes becoming one instead when tried to turn her attention towards them.

B…

B-bre-ath… FUCK!

Cindy suddenly abandoned her boyfriend and walked briskly to the bathroom. She should have found a different escape location, because she bumped into Ming when she walked in.

"Cindy?" Ming asked stunned.

"The fuck you want, homewrecker?" Cindy spat.

"I'd appreciate to know why you're crying." Ming said calmly as she folded her arms across her chest.

Crying?

She put her finger tips on her cheek. Cindy felt her face to indeed realise she was crying. "I-I don't need to tell you shit." She said quickly acting on her own defence.

"What? You want to tell Jazmine instead? Guess what? She's busy with her boyfriend, Cynthia."

"DON'T FUCKEN CALL ME THAT!"

"It's not cool, right? Seeing the one you admire, admire someone else?"

Cindy looked at Ming stunned. 'The fuck?'

"Cindy, I'm not an idiot." Ming chuckled out. "Sometimes in life, we can't always get what we want. That's life."

'This bitch?'

"Why you acting like you know me bitch?" Cindy asked with a disgusted look on her face.

"Because we're basically the same person in this scenario. You're in a position in your life that you don't like and don't quite understand. You want something you most likely can't have. That's how I felt with Huey and Jazmine. Yet for you, this time it's with Skylar and Riley. You're the white version of me."

"Listen here bitch! Don't act like you know me or my story! Just because you came here and fucked up YOUR shit doesn't automatically mean my shit is now yours. You don't know jack shit about me. And I don't make mistakes like yo' ass! Sit your ass down and stay in your lane!" That was all Cindy said before she stormed out back into the café while wiping her stray tears.

She met up with Caesar again on her way out.

"Baby, you okay? You stormed out here so quick I—"Caesar was not able to finish his sentence, because his lips were smashed together with his girlfriends.

Cindy grabbed Caesar by his wrist and snuck him out the back and to her father's SVX.

"Baby wassup? You wanna leave? Then we should call the others—"

Cindy closed the passenger door and sat on Caesar's lap before she started eating Caesar's face to death.

"Wah-woah, babe, is everything okay?"

"Mhmm" she replied just before she latched her lips onto his neck and started creeping her hands up his t-shirt.

Caesar let out a groan. "Cindy, are you sure you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm here with you."

Caesar had to admit what Cindy was doing felt amazing, but-

"Because – OH! SHIT!" Caesar tried, but Cindy had grinded on him.

Cindy out a giggle before she played with his shirt again as well as his earlobe.

"Oh hell no! Nuh-ugh!" Caesar exclaimed as he grabbed his girlfriend by her wrists and shifted her to sit next to him.

"Caesar—"

"HUSH!"

"Baby I—"

"M-mmmm! Somethings going on with yo' ass! Since when did you act this fast?"

"…"

"You see? Cindy, baby, listen, I care for you to the moon and back, but I don't wanna do that shit in your dad's Land-rover! Hell nah!" he chuckled. "Baby girl, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry" she whispered before her tears came in again.

"Ah, baby, c'mhere" was all Caesar said before he hugged his girlfriend snuggly in his arms. He wiped away her tears and kissed her forehead. He has no idea what was happening with his girlfriend, but he could ask at a later stage.

"You know, sometimes I think you're too good for me" she chuckled but sobbed at the same time with a weary smile.

"Yeah, whatever" was how he replied until he carried on hugging his girlfriend.

 _Back Inside…_

Riley never knew how soft Skylar's lips were, until now. They felt like pillows on his own and they tasted like bubble-gum. Must've been from the milkshake she drank earlier.

Skylar felt the same way. She never knew how much of a good ass kisser he is. His lips are so supple on hers. It felt as if they were made to be smooched by her. He could still taste the chocolate cake that he ate on his lips.

Skylar had went up on her tippy toes to try and reach Riley's lips while he bent down to meet her halfway. When they met, a flush of happiness flooded their bodies. Skylar wrapped her arms around Riley's neck while he wrapped his around her waist. Skylar wanted to taste Riley more and more after every peck. She wanted to feel his lips on hers for an eternity. It just, felt so good to her. Her heart started racing and she was becoming hungrier by the second, but luckily for her she had self-control. She gently pecked Riley's lips one last time before ending her beautiful , Riley and Skylar kissed.

Oh snap.

Riley and Skylar kissed.

"Woah…" Skylar whispered while smiling, again mirroring his hazel eyes with her own.

"Yeah…" he breathed out as he smiled and looked right back at her.

From a far, a certain couple also caught this scene of events.

"Knew it" Huey stated while shaking his head and leaning onto his chair.

"Me too" Jazmine agreed as she sat on her boyfriend's lap as they both eyed Skylar and Riley from afar.

"They've been at this for a while now, don't you think?" Jazmine asked as she turned around to look at Huey.

"Yes. I was wondering when they'd actually hook up. It was quite predictable" Huey stated unamused.

"Agreed. They're too oblivious for their own good."

Huey nodded before wrapping his arms around Jazmine's waist.

"What the?" Jazmine stuttered, surprised.

"What?" Huey asked not effected.

"You're cuddling me. In public. Huey are you sick? I told you not to eat that salad!"

"Jazmine, shut up" Huey rolled his eyes. "I genuinely feel like it. Besides, you were really good out there, and I feel like you deserve a little PDA."

"You just want the guys that have been checking me out to stay in their lane" she stated bluntly.

"That too."

"Sometimes I really wonder why I fell in love with you." Jazmine said with a smile on her face.

"Sometimes I think the same thing." He said as he tightened his grasp on her waist.

It was not every day that Huey bluntly and flatly shows affection like this, so this made Jazmine smile and blush, a lot.

"Ah, damn it!" Hiro whined as he frowned when he witnessed Riley and Skylar's lip lock.

"You never had a chance anyways." Ming stated bluntly as she walked next to her cousin.

"Gee, thanks for the pep talk" Hiro replied sarcastically as he gave Ming a cold stare, which she lazily ignored a looked straight ahead.

"Your day will come."

"What the hell Ming? Are you bipolar? You just said I had no chance."

"The chance is only what you make of it."

"Ming? What the actual fuck?" Hiro asked completely confused. He squinted his eyes and gave Ming a completely confused facial expression.

"Shinpaishinaidekudasai, Hiro-kun." Ming stated with a large smirk on her face.

Hiro knows that smirk. "Nani o suru?" he asked nervously.

"Sore wa watashi ga nani o suru kade wa arimasen, shikashi, nani ga okorimasu ka. [It is not what I could do, but what will happen.]" Ming said as she looked at Skylar giggling like an idiot with Riley.

Skylar looked deeply into Riley's eyes. Her more green tinted hazel eyes gazing into Riley's more brown tinted ones. Their eyes mixing in aura like a colourful autumn breeze. Autumn for some people is a season of death, other's it's a season for ripeness, but for people like Skylar, it signifies, change.

* * *

Translations: Shinpaishinaidekudasai – Don't worry

Nani o suru – What did you do?

Songs Mentioned (in order): Dancing in the Moonlight – Toploader (Andie cover – available on her YouTube channel) ~ Avery's song

Guba feat. Yuna – You're So Fine ~ Hiro x Jazmine

Yuna feat. Derez – I Want You Back ~ Caesar x Jazmine

Yuna – Rescue ~ Jazmine's Solo

Take note: Jazmine's singer voice is strictly Yuna Zaraai's voice. I just feel like it fits Jazmine.

Thanks for reading! :)


	13. Chapter 13

If you see grammar and spelling errors, feel free to tell me :) thank you! xx

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: Strictly Dreams

Cindy was busy at the court getting some hoops in. It was a long ass day at school and she needed to clear her head. So much junk has been happening lately that she hasn't had a moment to breathe.

Breathe.

Cindy stood by the three point line, bent her knees and lifted the basketball into the air.

SWOOSH!

"Dope ass shot"

"Huh?" Cindy questioned, turning around. When she turned around, she saw someone she has not spoken to in forever.

"Ugh, hey Riley" she greeted him nervously.

"Wassup" he greeted back as he walked closer to her, until they were a few feet apart.

…

…

…

Cindy was starting to feel uncomfortable. "So, ugh… look, I'm sorry that I've been igno—"

"I love you."

"W-what?" she asked in disbelieve. What the hell did he just say?

"I said, I love you" he repeated, with an emotional gleam in his eye.

"Riley, I, I love you too" she responded before the tears started rolling down her cheeks.

Riley stepped more towards Cindy, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He bent down and was now only a breath away from her lips.

Cindy closed her eyes for what was about to happen. Yet, nothing happened as she waited.

"Hahahaha, you're so stupid."

"Wah?" Cindy asked confused just before opening her eyes. Yet, the person in front of her was not Riley. "Skye? What the fuck!" Cindy tore her body away from her cousin.

"Did you really think he was gonna kiss you? You are even foolish enough to think he even loves you." Skylar spitted out with an evil grin.

"Skye…" Cindy said with heartbreak written all over her face.

"He's mine. Go run back to your fake relationship" Skylar spat as she folded her arms.

"Skylar listen—"

"You love HIM?"

Cindy turned around to see an enraged, but hurt Caesar behind her.

"Caesar I—"

"We're done Cindy!" was all Caesar said before he stormed off in the opposite direction.

"Caesar no!" Cindy cried before trying to run after him, but was blocked by a body.

"Hahahah! I told you we were the same" Ming chuckled out.

"NO!"

Cindy gasped as she lifted herself up from her bed. Her long blonde locks were frizzed up in every direction, sweat was beading down her body and her breath was short. She sat up in her bed and wiped the sweat from her forehead and removed hair from her face before covering her face with her hands.

"Damn it" she silently sobbed to herself.

Knock, knock.

"Cin'? You awake? Your mom says breakfast is ready" Skylar said from the other side of the door.

"Ugh, yeah, okay." She replied groggily, since she did just wake up.

"May I come in?" her cousin asked sweetly.

"Sure" Cindy replied plainly.

"Hey there" Skylar greeted happily from the door.

"'Sup" Cindy greeted back tiredly, still trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Uuuugghh" Cindy groaned out as she let herself fall back onto her bed. Skylar laughed at this.

"Hangover from last night?" Skylar suggested.

"Naah, I didn't drink last night."

"Okay cool, well, I just wanted to say good morning and to get ready for breakfast." Skylar said before getting off Cindy's bed and walking to the door.

"Why? It's a Saturday." Cindy asked curious.

"I'm taking you out today" Skylar stated with a smile.

At the Freeman's…

"Hello cutie pie!" Robert greeted Jazmine from his arm chair.

"Good morning Mr Freeman" Jazmine greeted Robert as she entered his home.

"Huey's probably in the basement" Robert said.

"Oh, I'm not here for Huey. I'm here for Riley" she stated kindly.

"Really? What do you want from that boy?" Robert asked, already getting irritated thinking about his grandson.

"I just need to speak with my brother" she said with a smile.

"Awww well ain't that cute!" Grandad cooed.

Jazmine just giggled before excusing herself upstairs. She walked down the corridor and stood outside Riley's door. She knocked a few times and waited for a response or for Riley to come and answer the door. When none of the two options came, she knocked again. When she still did not receive a reply, she rolled her eyes and let herself into the younger Freeman's bedroom.

Not to her surprise, she found Riley knocked out in his bed, snoring like no tomorrow. She walked to his sleeping form and poked him through his sheets.

"Ey, Riley, ey" she spoke calmly.

No response.

"Rileeey" Jazmine whined. Riley let out a soft groan.

"RILEY!"

"Don't snitch!" Riley screamed as he jumped up from his bed.

"Finally! It's 11:15, and a Saturday! Get up!" she whined.

"But I ain't got nothin' special planned!" Riley whined as well.

"Riley, just get up!"

"A'ight! A'ight! Damn…" he grunted as he sat upright on his bed.

Jazmine moved to sit on the beanbag in the corner of his messy room.

"So what you want?" he asked, still a little irritated that she awoke him from his slumber.

"Skylar." There was this sudden silence in the room that none of the two were expecting.

"Skye? What about Skye—oooooohh…" he realised and began rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, about last night—"

"Why?"

"Why? What you mean 'why'?" he asked a little taken aback.

"Why did you do it, Riley?" Jazmine asked seriously with her arms crossed. "I guess it was bound to happen, but, why?"

"If you knew it was bound to happen, then why you askin'?"

"Because I would like to understand 'why' you would still do it when you know that your heart is still with Cindy."

Riley had to take a moment for that to sink in.

"Jazmine, why are you so concerned? It ain't none of your business—"

"It kind of is when it concerns two people that I've known practically all my life and cherish."

"Jazmine—"

"I mean, this was kinda sudden and—"

"Jazmine! I was hurt okay? She won't talk to me. She won't even look at me Jazmine! Every single time I try and do something about it, she turns a cold shoulder like she doesn't give a fuck about me no mo'! I had to ask other people to talk to her for me. Guess who was there to do it? Skye! I mean, shit, she's been here for me a lot mo' than Cindy and she actually cares. I'm tired of puttin' myself through this shit! I'm tired as a bitch! I love her, but she don' love me! So, I'll go to someone who actually cares! That's why I kissed Skylar. I'm, just tired of all this bullshit Jazz." He has not poured his feelings out like this in a very long time. He usually keeps it boiled up and hides it behind his gangster ass ways, but right now it was time to let the beans spill.

"Do you actually care for Skylar, or is she a replacement for Cindy?"

"Jazmine c'mon—"

"Don't c'mon me! I'm sorry that you're hurting. I really am, but I won't allow you to let your pain make someone be in pain as well. Skye's a good person Riley. You can't string her along like that, because I have a feeling she has genuine feelings for you. You can't do that to her, you just can't! She might look a bit like Cindy, but she'll never be her. You have to understand that. You have to tell Cindy sooner or later, before things go down." Jazmine got up from the beanbag and made her way to the door.

"You have to be real with yourself" was all the mulatto said before leaving his room. This left Riley in a dumbfounded state, because, for once, Jazmine was right.

Jazmine started walking down the corridor until she bumped into Huey while lost in thought from the feud between her and Riley.

"Oh, hey babe. Your grandad said you were in the basement?"

"Yeah. Why didn't you come down?" he asked curiously.

"Was talking to your brother."

"About?" he asked with his brow raised.

"None of your business silly!" she exclaimed as she gently hit Huey's chest. "It's confidential."

"Okay, but, greet me first next time okay?" he asked, with a bit of gentleness in his voice, but still holding his stern face.

"O-okay. Sorry." She apologised when she looked into Huey's eyes. "What were you doing downstairs anyway?"

"Training." He answered flatly. He walked passed her and started moving to his room. He paused in his tracks and turned around so he could look at Jazmine. "You coming?"

"Oh, sure" she answered surprised as she joined him to his bedroom.

As they entered, Jazmine made herself one with his bed while Huey took out his clothes before grabbing his toiletry bag and making his way to his bathroom.

"Twenty" he said.

"Okay" she replied with a smile. Huey then went through the door on the opposite side of his bedroom.

It has been a while since Jazmine has been in here. It is actually the first time she was in his room as his girlfriend. Therefore, somehow she is looking at his room in a different light. She realised how well his bed was made, the way his bookshelf was so organised and how clean and clear his desk was with his computer. There were no dirty clothes on the floor and his room actually smelt nice. Damn, Huey Freeman is neat as hell. Neater than she is, which is ironic.

She quickly jumped off his bed and went to his bookshelf. Since he was going to be in his bathroom for twenty minutes, she might as well make good use of the time. She took out a brown leather book before plotting back down on his bed. She opened it to see that it was not a book, but a photo album. Jazmine opened it up and started to page through it.

As she paged through it, she saw pictures of Huey and Riley when they were younger. Some of which when they were still fourteen and twelve, ten and eight, and even some when they were toddlers. She saw pictures when Riley did not have cornrows, but a basic adorable fade. She saw Huey with his miniature afro. She looked even further and saw pictures where Huey and Riley practically twins. Riley had big beautiful curls and so did Huey. If it was not for their eye colours, Jazmine would not have known who was who. She saw pictures of Huey actually smiling. Not just smiling, but smiling with his parents. His parents. Jazmine has totally forgotten about his parents.

'He was so happy' she thought as she saw little Huey laughing with his brother in a photo with their parents. She felt like crying, but she thought better of it.

"What are you doing?"

Jazmine whipped her head up to see Huey in his towel in front of her.

"I-I was looking at photos. Sorry…" she said as she closed it and gave the album to Huey.

"It's okay." He said as he put it down on his end table and went to pick up his clothes.

He quickly went into the bathroom and came out again in a pair of black jeans, a navy blue t-shirt and white Adidas sneakers.

"You know," he started as he came out the bathroom and sat down next to Jazmine. "There was a time where I was ghetto as hell. I was basically another Riley"

Jazmine laughed at that. "No way, really?"

Huey nodded. "But my ghetto ways stopped the moment my parents passed away."

Jazmine laughter immediately stopped.

"After their passing, I told myself that I will live my parents' legacy and be something that they would be proud of. I still live to that. I think I always will."

This is the first time Jazmine was able to see Huey get so, emotional. Not only that, but to speak to her so willingly about his past. Who knew the older Freeman was so sensitive? Underneath his hard exterior, is quite a nice person with emotions of his own.

"I'm sorry about their passing" she said as she put her hand over Huey's.

"Yeah, me too" was his reply as he gently squeezed his girlfriend's hand.

Jazmine turned her head to look straight at Huey. His natural scrawl was still there, but much softer than normal. She smiled at the man she loves before giving him a gentle kiss on the lips. As she was about to move away, Huey grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her in for another gentle kiss. Jazmine chuckled at his demanding behaviour, before she kissed him once more.

This time, their gentle kisses started to turn into a passionate lip lock. Jazmines brain went shut down as soon as she felt the kiss grow deeper. Sparkles were going off in her brain and her heart was bearing fast. Huey was still holding the back of Jazmine's neck as he crept his other arm around her petite waist. Jazmine place one of her hands on his broad and toned chest and the other hands was on his soft cheek.

It has actually been a while since Huey and Jazmine had such a passionate kiss. With school and exams not too far away, it's been quite hectic on the both of them. This is exactly what they needed. To get lost in each other's auras. To know that one still loves the other and vice versa.

Their kiss had moved from gentle to passionate, to fierce in a matter of moments as they began to ravish each other's lips. Huey began to let his lips travel to her jawline. Her beautifully shaped jawline. He then lowered again and went to ravish Jazmine's neck, which she obliged to happily. Jazmine sighed contently as her boyfriend was making out with her neck. Jazmine bit her lip when he had found a certain place on her next that just sent shivers down her spine. Goodness, did his touch feel good and do wonders to her heart. Jazmine dug her nails into Huey's shoulder blades when he bit and sucked on Jazmine's neck, which just encouraged him even more.

Huey laid Jazmine down slowly on his bed as went back to kiss her beautiful, soft, pink lips. Jazmine, being bold, crept her hands underneath his shirt and made her hands one with his torso. Jazmine's small and soft hands made contact with Huey's beautiful chocolate skin. Huey always makes her feel good, so she decided to play a part as well. This caused him to pause in his ministrations due to the good feeling, before continuing to kiss his girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

'She's mine. She's all mine.'

Huey also crept his hands underneath her sweater as he gently played with her toned stomach.

"Uhn…"

What on earth was that? That must've been the cutest mewl Huey has ever heard come out of Jazmine's lips. He was the only one to make Jazmine feel this way. He was the only one that could make Jazmine feel this way, and she was the only one to make Huey react this way.

Huey went low as he began to kiss her collarbone. Jazmine began to breathe heavier as he embraced her more. She sighed in a desperate manner as he kissed her collarbone. She couldn't deal. Jazmine wrapped her legs around Huey's waist and dug her nails into his lower back.

"Damnit" he let out when he felt her manicured nails dig into his back. If she keeps this up, he won't be able to hold back.

Huey looked down, and that was his biggest mistake, because Jazmine had this look on her face that was not going to do well for his libido. Her face was flushed a light red, her pupils were dilated and her eyes were a richer emerald green.

"Boy! Get your ass down here! I need you to go buy some things! Yal niggas be eating everything in my goddamn house! Shoot, better get yo' ass to the grocery store!" Grandad yelled.

And just like that, Huey snapped out of it and began to sit up straight. "I'm coming Grandad." He yelled.

Jazmine unwrapped her legs around his waist and Huey began to snake his hands out of her sweater. So did she with his shirt. They both sat straight up and began to make themselves presentable. Thank the angels Grandad called out for Huey, or else, who knew what would have happened. Well, they both knew, and at that moment, Huey and Jazmine gave each other a look, that only they, and their libidos would understand…

"You coming?" Huey asked as he opened up his bedroom door. Jazmine nodded and followed him out of his bedroom. They did not speak one word of what just happened. That conversation will wait another day.

At the mall…

"Ugh, c'moooon Skye!" Cindy whined.

"No! You WILL do this with me!"

"But you know I hate this girly shit! I'm girly on occasion and you know this!"

"Shut up and tell me which colour goes with my eyes" Skylar commanded as she held to dresses to her chest.

Cindy rolled her eyes. "The maroon one with the ivy green glitter tips attract the hint of brown within your eyes, but still capturing the dominant green. Happy?"

…

"Damn Cindy! Since when were you a fashion square?" Skylar asked completely shocked. "You know, I was just joking at first, but now…"

"Shut up and get the damn dress! I'll be waiting at the food court." And just like that, Cindy walked off to go order her and her cousin some subs at Subways.

In a way, Cindy was happy but not happy that she was out with Skylar. One, they haven't hung out like this in a while and two, because she's still burdened with her secret.

Skylar just randomly said that she was going to take Cindy out, and Cindy being the cousin she is, accepted it. Cindy rocked some bleached out torn blue jeans, white Airmax shoes, her Warriors basketball jersey with a leather jacket and a white beanie with, of course, her classic braids. She was going out wasn't she? She had to look dapper.

As she ordered subs for her and Skylar, someone came up behind her and put their hands over her eyes. Cindy just sighed.

"Hiro, you better get your biracial ass hands off my goddamn face!"

"How the hell did you know it was me?!" he asked, still with his hands on her face.

"You're the only punkass that does it! Now git!"

Hiro chuckled as he removed his hands from his friend's face. He gave Cindy dap before immediately getting into conversation while she ordered for her cousin.

"So where's your bitch ass cousin?" Cindy asked.

"She's at some comic store. Such a geek" Hiro rolled his eyes. "What about yours?"

"She's at Marc Jacobs. She'll be here in a bit." She said as she took her slip from the cashier and thanked her kindly.

Hiro and Cindy walked to a table and sat down.

"So where's the rest of the gang?" Cindy asked.

"Ugh, everywhere. It's just one of those Saturdays. Yet, what the hell are you doing here? You hate this place." Hiro asked.

Cindy nodded. "I do, but Skye wanted to take me out so I was not gonna turn down my blood."

"Well ain't that sweeeeet!" Hiro teased.

"Yeah yeah yeah" she said as she fanned her hand at Hiro. "What about you?"

"Ming wanted comics and I wanted to place an appointment at the tattoo parlour here."

Cindy smiled. "So you're gonna get it?" she asked getting excited.

"Yeah. I just need Riley to do the design."

"Dope man! I'm glad!" she exclaimed as she reached over the table and fist pumped her friend. "Ey! There's my girl!" Cindy said as she spotted her cousin in the crowd. Cindy waved her hand around so Skylar could spot them. Skylar caught sight quickly and made her way to their table.

Hiro immediately got a bit anxious. Damnit! Why does he like this girl so much? He already knows that Riley has her tied down, but she's forever making him feeling emotions he hates. Nervousness, anxiousness and many more. Hiro is always so cool, calm and collected. Captain composure, but, this chick makes that all crumble down. What the hell?

"Yoooo!" Skylar exclaimed as she sat down next to Hiro.

Great.

"Sup girl" Hiro greeted, still surprisingly playing it cool. "Well, I'm gonna go order for Ming and I. See you guys in a minute." He said as he let himself go.

Truth is, he just needed an excuse to leave the table. He did not know how to act around Skylar yet, especially after witnessing her stick her tongue down Riley's throat. He needs to figure out his feelings properly before he does anything stupid.

Woah, well okay, woah. Hiro really does like this girl. He has had a few flings, crushes and girlfriends in the past, but none of them made Hiro feel this way. Pfft, maybe it's just teenage hormones. Hiro chuckled at his thoughts as he made his way to the Burger King by the food court.

"Got your dress?" Cindy asked while sipping her smoothie. Cindy had quickly gone to get her and Skylar's order while she was still with Hiro, just before Skylar arrived.

"Yeah. Thanks for coming by the way. I wanted us to talk" Skylar said before taking a bite into her sub.

"Talk about what?" Cindy asked, not reading too much into it as she too bit into her sub.

"About shit"

"What shit?"

"Well I can't tell you now." Skylar explained as she sipped on her shake.

"Okay we'll chill by the park just outside." Cindy suggested.

"Hirooo! Doko ni imasu ka?" Ming asked in her heavy Chinese accent. It still amazes many how Ming excels in so many languages, especially how she can shift from Chinese to Japanese so quickly.

"Ah shiiit" Cindy exhaled exasperated and covered her face when she heard Ming's voice.

"Hiro—oh, Cindy." Ming greeted with a bit of slyness as she saw the blue eyed blonde.

"You know Skye, why don't we go to the park now?" Cindy asked her cousin, completely ignoring Hiro's cousin.

"But I just sat down—"Skylar began to protest.

"You can eat and walk! C'mon!" she exclaimed as she grabbed Skylar's arm and dragged away from the food court.

Cindy was not in the mood to face Ming after their feud last night. She was not ready for that rubbish again. She knows that Ming will also show no mercy to her or Skylar right now. There was no way she would drag her cousin into this, even though she is already indirectly in it.

"Cindy"

"We'll have your little chat over there" Cindy said as she pointed at a grey bench.

Cindy finally let go of Skylar so that she could sit down and finish eating.

"Are you and Ming beefing?" Skylar asked, obviously witnessing the tension between the two.

"Yeah, sort of, but let's not get into that. Wassup? You wanted to talk to me?" Cindy said changing topic quickly.

"Oh, yeah" Skylar said as she finished off her sub and started sipping on her shake again before clearing her throat. "So, I think I know this is the least topic you want to strive up, but I'm gonna ask anyways."

"Well, don't waste time. Wassup?"

"Why are you beefing Riley so hard?"

Oh no. not this shit again. "Skye, we discussed this. Twice. Don't you think three is a crowd?" Cindy asked already bored and tired. She does not want her cousin to get in the middle of something. Even though it is partly her fault, Cindy was a big enough person to not drag her cousin in.

"Three is a crowd. It just expresses how much you're not telling me. I have to keep on asking you, and I will keep asking until you give me a valid answer."

Damnit. I guess Cindy is not the only stubborn one in her family. She sighed. "Look Skye, you don't need to worry about it, you know why?"

"Why?" Skylar asked more annoyed than intrigued.

"Because it's none of your business" Cindy tried to say as nice and calmly as possible.

Skylar raised her eyebrows but they quickly softened and she began to sip her drink again. However, the drink made a slurping sound, which made things even more awkward. Skylar looked in the opposite direction of Cindy, folded her legs and kept on drinking her shake.

"Skye, c'mon, don't be like that."

"Be like what?" she asked still drinking and looking in the opposite direction.

"Like this! Don't ignore me." Cindy stated as her voice softened even more and laid her hand on Skylar's shoulder.

"But that's what you're doing to me Cindy! You're ignoring the topic at hand! How is it that I can say some much stuff to you, but can't say jack shit to me? I'm just trying to help you—"

"Help me, or Riley?" Cindy asked irritated and therefore came off bitchier than intended.

"Both! What the actual fuck Cindy? What? Just because I kissed him you think I'm his bloodhound now? I know everybody saw! I like him Cindz I really, do. Yet I won't become his damn spy! I'm doing this for the both of you, and quite frankly it's getting tiring. You're both not coughing up stuff and it's getting on my nerves! Seeing the both of you hurt just makes me hurt!" there was this glint of sadness and guilt in Skylar's beautiful hazel eyes. It is rare for Cindy to see such a face.

Cindy had to admit, Skylar was right. She needs to stop hiding in this deep corner and just spill the beans, but it's way easier thought than said. Cindy's heart sank down to her stomach with guilt and her chest was now really heavy. Almost as if she could not breathe.

Skylar sighed. "Well, if you're not gonna tell me, forget me telling you things as well." Skylar said as she started to stand up. This was painful for Skylar as well. It felt as if her cousin did not trust her. Skylar has trusted her with almost everything in her life. If Skylar does not keep things to herself, she speaks to Cindy. Whether it be on the phone, Facetime, Skype, you name it. It just hurts that Cindy might not feel the same way. There was also this dash of guilt, as if she is digging too deep into her personal life and not allowing her to speak when she's ready.

Cindy gently put her hand on her cousin's toned shoulder. Skylar turned around to look at Cindy. It was as if they were looking in the mirror because their eyes mirrored their emotions so perfectly.

"Sit down, please?" Cindy asked in a small voice. She was being so out of character. This is why Cindy hates emotions, because it wrecks her image so much.

Skylar obeyed her as she began to sit down again. Cindy took a deep breath before she started to tell Skylar little by little.

Back inside Wuncler Mall…

"Eh? Ming, koko de, wa Cindy to Skylar-chan?" Hiro asked Ming as he came back from getting their meals.

"They just left. Gomen'nasai" Ming answered flatly.

"Don't apologise when you don't mean it" Hiro stated as he rolled his eyes and put the food on the table.

Ming shrugged before grabbing a fry. They were not eating for long, until a figure stormed across their window. 'Eh?'

"Isn't that them?" Hiro asked as he squinted as he tried to look out the window.

Back outside…

"Really? That was it? Why didn't you just say that?" Skylar asked with a relieved smile and chuckle.

"Because you know I hate that mooshy shit!" Cindy exclaimed with a laugh.

"Cindy, if giving us privacy was the reason, then you should have said so earlier!" Skylar said with a shove to her cousin's arm.

"Like I said, mooshy shit."

"Well, I'm glad you told me. It makes me feel a whole lot better about all of this" Skylar said with appreciation written all over her face.

"You're welcome. And sorry for making you worry so much. Fo'real"

"It's okay, and I'm sorry for pestering you."

"Okay enough of this girl shit! Are we good?" Cindy asked hopefully?

Skylar gave her a wide smile, just before embracing her cousin in a big hug. "Always" she answered softly. "Do you wanna go back inside?"

"Naaah. Malls are overrated. Let's go chill somewhere else?" Cindy suggested with a smile.

Soon, the girls were talking as if nothing ever happened, but something did happen: Cindy lied. However, they both smiled and laughed as they headed towards Cindy's black BMW. There more Cindy smiled, the more a guilt within her grew. There was only one question Cindy had:

'How long will I pull this off?'

* * *

Author's note: Well, nothing much to say! See you in the next chapter :) - Elle


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's Note:_ Guess who has risen from the dead? Hehe, sup yal! Guy's I just want to apologise for the ancient wait. I started University this year as well as having to deal with personal family issues. All I wanna say is that I'm back and I'll be trying to make time for my stories again! I think I'll be uploading every month instead of every week in the past. So, yeah. Without further ado! Intrusion: Our Story CHAPTER 14!

Note: Please make me aware of any grammar or spelling errors. I do reread and audit my work but it's possible I miss things.

Translation: Itoko - Cousin (in Japanese)

* * *

Chapter 14: Internal Conflict

 _"Skylar Honey!'' her mothered called._

 _''Yes, mom?'' Skylar replied._

 _''Please come downstairs and help me with this box?''_

 _''Sure thing, coming!'' she replied as she got up from the ground in her bedroom where she was packing some of her belongings. Her family was supposed to be moving out this weekend. She only had one more day before she leaves her home here in Madison._

 _Skylar danced down the stairs of her home to see her mom attempting to pick up a very heavy looking box. ''Mom! Put that down!'' she exclaimed in worry._

 _''Oh, there you are.'' Her mother replied with a beautiful smile._

 _''Attempting to carry heavy things is not good for the babies!'' Skylar lectured._

 _Her mother chuckled at this before steadily putting the box into Skylar's hands. ''I'm sorry Skye. Promise not to tell your dad though.'' She said with a goofy smile._

 _''Your secret is safe with me. Just, promise not to try that again. I wanna see Vici and 'Roni in great condition'' she said as she began to rub her mother's 5-month old pregnant belly._

 _''Okay, okaaaay! I'll be more careful! Just finish what you were doing child. We leave for school in 20.'' Her mother playfully commanded._

 _Skylar playfully rolled her eyes and began her journey back upstairs. Skylar's thirteen-year-old self finished off packing her books in one of her boxes before quickly running over to the corner of her bed. She grabbed her grey hoodie and wore it over her baby pink dress. With that, she ran down the stairs to join her mother in the car for her last day of school._

 _As her mother parked in the drop-off zone, Skylar quickly gave her mother's cheek and belly a big kiss. ''I love you guys'' she said with her dazzling smile._

 _''We love you too sweetheart.'' Her mother replied while rubbing her belly. With that, Skylar jumped out of the SUV and paced her way to Madison Middle School._

 _Skylar was feeling all kinds of emotions. She was excited to move, but sad all at the same time. She was not those mopey children that hated moving. Unlike many children, Skylar appreciated change, but that does not mean she will miss her life here in Wisconsin. As her thoughts went wild, she took some books for her English class. As she closed her locker, she was playfully scared by her best friend._

 _''BOO!''_

 _"AH! Jenna you can't do that!'' Skylar screamed before laughing with her brunette and brown eyed friend._

 _''Well, this IS the last day that I can scare your pants off'' Jenna said with a sad smile. With that, Skylar also gave a sad smile before greeting her friend properly with a big hug._

 _"Morning Jen" Skylar greeted softly._

 _"Hey weirdo" Jen greeted back as she was being muffled by Skylar's long locks. After having a sweet encounter, the two friends began chatting away as they made their journey to their first class of the day._

 _As they walked into their English class, they bumped into one of their close friends. ''Don! Wassup!'' Skylar exclaimed when she saw her handsome friend. By the sound of his name, Don turned around to see Skylar and Jenna._

 _"Sup girls" he greeted back before hugging the two girls for the first time this morning._

 _"We're hosting a little something for Skylar after school by the yard! You're coming right?" Jen asked Don._

 _"You're what?!" Skylar asked surprised. She was not expecting that._

 _"Yeah! A little farewell you know? I feel like you deserve it Skye" Jen replied while trustfully squishing Skylar's arm._

 _"Guuuys!" Skylar exclaimed before hugging both Jen and Don into a group hug._

 _The day went by smoothly with farewell gifts and speeches from both schoolmates and teachers. By the time school was over, it only then started sinking in that Skylar was leaving her hometown for good. Jen and Don were in different classes from her and would therefore meet her on the yard afterschool._

 _Skylar decided to go to the bathroom to freshen up for her little party. She looked herself in the mirror to make sure her hair was still straight from this morning and brushed out her cute baby pink dress. As she was walking down the hallway to the exit, she heard voices in one of the classrooms._

 _"Are you really gonna miss her?" a voice said._

 _"Pfft, no not really. I mean, she's a nice girl, but she was only therefore decoration."_

 _"Jenna that's not nice to say!"_

 _'Jenna? Is Jen talking about, me?' Skylar thought._

 _"Listen, that girl really helped me with my grades and pulled up my popularity by a scale! I don't need her anymore! The school year is almost over. The only wimp that I think was ever her friend was that loner of a friend of hers, ugh, what's his name again?"_

 _"You mean Don?"_

 _"Yeah, that idiot. I don't need him either. He's too loyal. Always asking about annoying Skylar. Should have confessed to her while he could. And I won't be dealing with a sad dog, so he can leave too."_

 _"Then why did you even plan this party for her?"_

 _"She gave me good grades and the popularity title. I must give her SOME credit. Guys I'm not a total bitch…"_

 _Skylar's green eyes were brimming with tears. She removed herself from the classroom immediately. She couldn't handle the words anymore. By the time she reached the yard near the school, everyone was already there and her tears had dried up a bit._

 _"Skylar!" she heard a voice. She turned to see that it was Don. She smiled both sadly and happily due to what she had just heard._

 _She walked over to her friend and sat down next to him on the grass. "Hey Don" she greeted kindly._

 _"Here, I saved you a Dr Pepper" he said as he handed her the can._

 _"Thank you"_

 _"It's always a pleasure Skye" he responded with a sweet smile._

 _They sat down and chatted for the longest time before joining everyone else in dancing and playing games. This party allowed Skylar to run away from her reality for some time. However, it was short lived when someone grabbed everyone's attention._

 _"Attention everyone!" the bitch herself announced. "I can see everyone is having an awesome time! Glad to see! However, let's not forget the reason why we're here." With that statement, Jen turned her head to Skylar. "So today marks Skylar McPhearson's last day with us! From my part, I just want to say that I am so grateful for the memories and times we shared together. You really turned my life around Skye, and not just mine, but many other peoples' lives. We wish you a safe journey and brighter future in New York! Best of luck Skye!"_

 _"Best of luck, Skye!" everyone followed in unison._

 _This made Skylar emotional for two reasons, one is the fact that she is moving to a completely different state and leaving all her memories here. Two is the fact that her two-faced friend is the one sending her off and not the only real friend she had, Don. This brought Skylar to tears. This earned Skylar hugs from all around her. Even from Jen._

 _As soon as the party finally calmed down, Skylar was about to make her way home._

 _"Skye!" Jen exclaimed, running towards her. "Give me one last hug, okay?"_

 _It took all of Skylar's might to not punch Jenna right then and there. Instead, she pulled the fakest smile she could master and allowed Jen to give her that final hug._

 _"I'll miss you Skye" Jen said softly._

 _"You sure?" Skylar uttered under her breath._

 _"Huh?" Jen asked._

 _"Oh, nothing."_

 _Jen let her go and was making her way home. "Hey, Jen!" Skylar yelled._

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"Ugh…nothing. Be safe" she ended up saying instead. Jen nodded as she carried on walking._

 _Skylar bowed her head sadly before turning around and starting her own journey home._

 _"Skylar! Wait up!" it was Don._

 _"Don?" she asked stunned._

 _"May I walk you home?" he asked nervously while fidgeting with his fingers._

 _Skylar smiled. "Sure"_

 _Don and Skylar's walk home was calm, warm and pleasant. Don had been the best company the whole day. His warm nature and presence really put Skylar at ease. They were enjoying each other's company so much, that they were in front of Skylar's doorstep in no time._

 _"Well, this is me" Skylar said sadly._

 _"Yeah…"_

 _…_

 _"Ugh, Skylar?"_

 _"Yeah Don?"_

 _"Can…Can I… Can I tell you something?"_

 _Skylar's smile grew. "Sure" she accepted with a warm smile._

 _"Well, ugh, the thing is that I've been meaning to say this for some time, but I never got the chance to say it so this is my final chance and I really don't wanna blow it because— "_

 _As Don carried on rambling aimlessly, Skylar silenced him with a soft, warm and sweet kiss on the lips._

 _"Oh, ugh…woah" Don replied. Skylar chuckled. "Sorry, that was, my first kiss." He admitted shyly._

 _Skylar blushed as she shyly replied "Don't worry. It was my first kiss too."_

 _They shared a moment as they both just stood and smiled at one another. After some times, they gave each other one final, long, loving hug._

 _"I'll see you around?" Don asked with tears brimming in his eyes._

 _"I'll definitely see you around" she replied with tears staining her vision as well._

 _Don gave her a kiss on the cheek, before turning around and taking his journey home._

 _Skylar entered her home, being welcomed by her parents._

 _"Hey Skye! Welcome back!" her mother exclaimed._

 _"Hey kiddo! Had a good day?" her farther asked._

 _"Hey mom, hey dad. Yeah, today was worth it" she said with a smile._

 _"That's great sweetheart, because we have a busy weekend!" her mother exclaimed._

 _"Ready for New York?" her dad asked kindly._

 _Thirteen-year-old Skylar took a moment before saying, "Yeah, I think I'm ready."_

* * *

 **In the Cafeteria...**

"You dumbass! Drake's got bars!" Cindy screamed.

"He's got popularity, not bars." Huey rebutted.

"Huey why you hating?!" Cindy fought back.

It was lunchtime in the cafeteria and today was an interesting day. Cindy was livelier than normal, Huey was speaking more, and Hiro just came with a new song. Things were so simple, so easy. And that's what everyone liked the most, well except for some people…

Cindy and Riley were still a bit off, and everyone knew, but they decided to sit this one out. Everyone knows how the both of them can get whenever they're in a fight. Last time they had a fight about some hoe they were trying to get pregnant with Riley's kid just so she could grab the fortune Grandad has stored away. Cindy tried to tell Riley what was going on, but Riley flaked her. This caused for the two friends to fight and not talk to one another for almost 2 months. Obviously, they walked through it and finally were back to their stupid friendship ways. Therefore, everyone hoped that they'll walk through this one as well.

"A'ight dumbasses, shut the fuck up and listen" Hiro first initiated. Everyone's head turned to give the Asian boy the attention he asked for. "So I finally dropped my first track. It's probably still rusty as fuck, but do good and show your homeboy some love alright?"

The group of friends all accepted his request with loud chants, banging tables and standard ratchetness.

"Do I get to hit logic in your tracks when you get big ma boy?" Caesar playfully requested.

"Always man, but I don't think you need to stress about you getting on the top. Our band is gonna stunt on people!" Hiro responded.

"Yeah yeah! I've been meaning to ask yal motherfuckas, when did yal bitches start a band? I mean, shit" Riley asked curiously.

"Oh, we've actually BEEN wanting to start a band since before summer vacation, but we finally pulled up our socks and started it this new term." Caesar answered his ghetto friend.

"Jazmine was prolonging the shit tho" Hiro spilled.

"Hiro!" Jazmine exclaimed embarrassed.

"Nuh-ugh Jazz! We would have started earlier if you weren't in that stupid 'But guuuys I can't siiing' phase" Hiro explained, mimicking his biracial friend. They table laughed at Hiro's impersonation.

"I just didn't want to end up like those dipsy girls that think they can sing and they really can't— "

"Jazmine would you shut the fuck up? You can sing girl! Fo'real! Even I never knew you had such a sweet voice hoe!" Cindy exclaimed to her best friend.

"Cindy's got a point Jazz. You were great two weeks back." Skylar added.

This caused for Jazmine to smile and blush. "Thanks guys. Sorry for keeping it a secret."

"It's all good. However, what other talents are you hiding hoe?" Cindy asked while playfully nudging her friend in the arm.

"We all know you low-key shake the booty so—OW!" Riley tried to start, but was hit upside head by his brother. "Nigga! The fuck?!" Huey just gave his brother a deep glare. "What nigga? Yo' girl got cake! –OW!"

Before they knew it, the brothers were playfully brawling in the cafeteria. Huey grabbed a piece of meat off Riley's plate. "Eat it." Huey commanded.

"EW nigga NAH! Who knows how old that shit is! Huey dawg c'mon - EW!"

"Did Riley just say 'ew'?" Caesar chuckled.

"Thought I was the only one" Hiro laughed.

The playful fight continued with a lot of food forcing, nuggies and head locking. Everyone laughed at the scene as they finished off their meals. Everyone was laughing, except Ming, and Jazmine was aware of this.

In fact, Ming was not talking at all this whole lunch break. Jazmine scrutinised Ming, and found that her eyes were clearly focused on her boyfriend. Jazmine frowned at the reality: Ming still likes Huey.

Once the brawl was over, everyone finished off their meals and made their way out of the cafeteria to got to the benches at the back of the school since there was still a good twenty minutes of lunchtime left. As the squad walked out, Cindy and Caesar were holding hands and Riley and Skylar were having pleasant conversation. Ming was walking just behind Huey while Jazmine was at the back with Hiro.

Jazmine was analysing Ming's actions, and immediately realised that she was about to start talking to Huey.

"Hey, Freema— "Ming initiated.

"—Hueyyy" Jazmine cooed, cutting Ming off as she jumped to the front and grabbed her boyfriend's arm.

"What? And don't coo my name like that." Huey responded.

"I just, wanted to ask if you're busy today?" she asked, trying to act cute.

"Well I have my African-American History project to finish. So it'd be nice if I finished it today" Huey answered.

"Oh okay, so I'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked, squishing her boyfriend's arm.

"Yes." He answered plainly.

This put Ming on edge as she saw the couple cooing right in front of her. She held her anger as she furthered herself from the stupid couple.

"Don't be stupid" Hiro stated.

"Huh?" Ming asked, stunned to see her cousin walking next to her.

"It's gonna take a lot for you to try and talk to Huey after your bitchy scandal"

"Hiro!" Ming exclaimed, shocked by her cousin's words.

"Leave them and just promote my single. Life will be easier that way for you." Hiro stated as he put his hands in his pockets.

"I could say the same for you and Skylar."

"Huh?" Hiro asked, whipping his head around to his cousin.

This made Ming laugh. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about itoko."

"Wha—Ming!" Hiro exclaimed, his cheeks turning a faint pink.

Ming hummed to herself as she moved forward in the track to the benches.

At the benches, jokes, laughter and gossip were circled around. A day like this was needed. It was not every day where the squad could really sit down and enjoy each other's company. As everyone relaxed and enjoyed their last few minutes at the benches, Skylar, finally made the first move.

"Hey Reezy" she initiated.

"Wassup?" he replied easily.

"What, ugh, are you doing after school?" she asked, faintly blushing.

"Nothing serious. Probably play on my new PS4 or somethin'. Why?"

"Got Gran Turismo?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Riley chuffed playfully.

This made Skylar chuckle. "Guess so." She replied playfully.

Riley smirked before responding, "You can swerve by and see if you can beat me."

Cindy was watching with her peripheral vision at her cousin and best friend, while still acting as if she was paying attention to Hiro's dumb stories. A pain grew in her chest the more she looked. She shifted her eyes away from the duo and laid her head on Caesar's shoulder.

"You a'ight babygirl?" Caesar asked softly. Cindy just nodded before giving her boyfriend a peck on the cheek.

With that, the last half of the day was sounded by the school bell, saying that lunch was over…

* * *

 _"Well, this is it! Our new home!" My farther exclaimed with much enthusiasm._

 _"Dad…" I utter._

 _"Yes, kid?" He asked with kindness in his voice_

 _"…No."_

 _He gave me a sad smile and just nodded his head. "Yeaaah… I get you kiddo. Gotta make it a home first, right?" He asked me reassuringly._

 _I bowed my head and looked at my dirty All Stars, "Yeah." I answer sadly._

 _I didn't want to move! I still had a lot of missions to accomplish. Like, punching Jen in her fakeass face, hug Don one last time…just, so much! Oh well, I guess life doesn't just wait for you to do what you want, right?_

 _"Okaaay! Let's get unpacking shall we?" my dad insisted with his cheesy smile. I simply nodded my head and began carrying boxes into different rooms within our new house._

 _My dad helped me carry some boxes upstairs so mom could start unpacking small things like clothes and ornaments. By the time we called it quits for a day, the sun was setting._

 _"Well, I guess it's take-outs tonight huh? What do you say kid? Dominos or Pizza Hut?" my dad suggested._

 _"Hmmm…Pizza Hut!" I answered excitedly._

 _He chuckled. "Sure thing Skye. I'll be back in a bit then. Say, your mom is napping. Feel free to go to the park down the street, okay?"_

 _"Really?"_

 _"Sure. Get a feel of here. And besides, I think you need it" he said with an assuring smile. I gave a smile back. I gave the old chump a hug before he drove to Pizza Hut._

 _By the time I reached the park, the heat had gone down a bit, so a pleasant breeze was going through my sandy hair. I sat down on the grass and looked out towards the distance. You know, it's actually not that bad over here. I thought I'd really hate it. Just as I thought that, I felt a ball hit me upside my head._

 _"Oh shit! Eeeeyy! Wassup! You a'ight?" I hear some dude's voice._

 _"Ughhh! Man, that hurt dude!" I complain._

 _"Pffft, 'dude'?"_

 _"Yeah, 'dude'." I clarify._

 _"Bruuuh AHAHAHAH! You got one funny ass accent! Where you from?" He chuckled as squinted at me._

 _"Oh, ugh, Wisconsin." I say as I blush a bit. Is my accent that bad?_

 _"Figures. Makes a lot of sense."_

 _"Sorry…"_

 _"Sorry? Sorry for what? It's actually cute man" he chuckled with a sweet smile. That's when I finally took in his features, and oh was he beautiful. He was actually quite tall guy. Nice smooth brown skin with a neat fade._

 _"Gee, thanks. Oh, ugh, I'm, Skylar" I said as I finally introduced myself._

 _He smiled and replied "Sup, the name's Broderick. It's cool to meet you Skylar. Sorry about the ball"_

 _"Oh it's okay. Mistakes happen right?"_

 _"Yeah that's true. Hey, are you new around this block? I've never seen you around."_

 _"Oh! Heh, yeah we just moved in here. Today actually"_

 _"Aren't you supposed to be packin'?" he asked as he looked at me sceptically._

 _"Done for the day. Needed to finally relax a bit you know? So dad said I should scurry over here."_

 _"Makes sense. Hey, wan' me tah walk you around this block?" He offered kindly. Not only is he cute, he's sweet as well. I think I just made my first friend._

 _"Sure. Thanks, that's really nice of you"_

 _"Ey man, this is the Bronx, we gotta look out for one another. Okay, first stop, I gotta show you this dumbass statue!"_

* * *

 **At the Freeman's...**

"Ey, ey Skye? SKYE!"

"Huh? What?"

"Ey, you a'ight? You been dazing off like a wackass for some time now." Riley pointed out as he looked at me worriedly.

"Oh, sorry. My bad" I apologise, a bit embarrassed.

"Ey at least you didn't drool! I woulda died!" He exclaimed as he cracked up. I began laughing with him.

Gee, Riley is such a cool guy. Just being around him makes me so much happier.

Riley suddenly realised that Skylar was gazing at him, hard.

"Ugh, Skye, you sure you a'ight?" he asked, a bit flattered but embarrassed. She just nodded, with the smile on her face getting brighter.

"Reez'…"

"What's good?" he asked nervously.

"May I kiss you?"

For the first time in her life, Skylar witnessed Riley Freeman blushing. Riley tried to reply, but the words were not coming out of his mouth. Instead, Skylar filled those words with a kiss as she pressed her lips up against Riley's really soft ones.

As they were kissing, Skylar decided to be a bit risqué and sat in Riley's lap. Which surprised Riley significantly.

"Mmm, Skyrrr?" he muffled.

"Hmmm?" she hummed into their kiss.

"My…grandad…is upstairs" he said in between kisses.

"Mmhmmm…"

She began biting Riley's bottom lip while caressing the nape of his neck. Riley won't even lie, that shit was hot. He placed his hands on Skylar's surprisingly curvy hips as they continued. She began snaking her arms around his neck as she tried to deepen the kiss. This is what caught Riley's attention.

"Mmmmm—okay Skye, woah" he breathed out as he released himself from the kiss. "Skye, this is dope, but ugh, Grandad could come down with a belt any second soo…" he tried to clarify.

Skylar took the hint, chuckled and shifted from their previous position. "Sorry" she apologised shyly.

"Nah it's cool girl. I just don't want Grandad thinkin' I'm tryna make a baby on this rug" he played off casually as he gave her a reassuring bump on the arm.

She nodded. "It's cool, it's cool. I understand." She said with a soft smile. "Hey, uhm, can I borrow your Black Ops? Just for tonight?"

"Yeah whatever man. Just don't be ratchet and keep it for the rest ugh' the year" he playfully accepted.

They shared a small laugh before she got up from the floor and started packing her things. It was a soothing silence as they made their way to the front porch.

"Thanks for having me" she thanked with her pretty smile.

"Thanks for coming girl" he replied as he walked over to hug her goodbye.

"See you next week?"

"Fo'sho" he answered with a wink. With that, Skylar gave one last smile and rode her skateboard to Woodcrest Estates.

Riley watched her skate off into the distance.

"And what the fuck was that?" Huey asked behind him.

"AAHHH! MOTHERFU—NIGGA WHY YOU GOTTA CREEP ON ME LIKE THAT? SHIT! PUNK!" Riley yelled in fright.

"Shut your dumbass up! Did you really just turn down ass right now?" Huey asked.

"What you mean nigga?"

"I was in the kitchen when you and Skylar got comfortable."

This made Riley freeze.

"Using Grandad as an excuse? The hell? Nigga that never stops you. So tell me, why did you let her go?"

"…Nigga what if I just couldn't get it up?! Huh?!"

"You go up for anything that is female Riley— "

"Shut the fuck up!"

"Riley." Huey said sternly.

The brothers had a stare down. Huey obviously silently communicating with his brother. It was a silent argument between brothers. After sometime, Riley dashed passed Huey and stormed up the stairs.

"Running to your room like a bitch won't help Riley!"

* * *

 _"Skye, Skyyyyye!"_

 _"Hmmmm?"_

 _"It's time to wake up sweetheart."_

 _"Ugh, five more minutes please."_

 _"Five minutes is five hours to you, child." My mother chuckled, "Now get up. You need to get packing this week."_

 _I sigh heavily with my face in my pillow. "Okaaay, I'm coming."_

 _My mother gave me a gentle smile as she raised from my bed and took her journey to my door._

 _I watched my mother exit my room. As soon as she closed my door, I fell backwards onto my pillow. It's my last week here. Huh, I haven't even been here that long either. Moving is tiring. It really is. The packing, the organising, the frustrations and most importantly, the goodbyes. I have to say goodbye to some friends once more in my life, and that just makes my heart sink even lower. Oh well._

 _I throw my duvet off my body as I take my path to the bathroom, getting ready for school, while low-key packing some of my things. I decided to wear Broderick's hoodie, my bleached jeans and sneakers today with a simple ponytail. I'm not up for anything today._

 _"Skyyyylaaaaahhh!" I hear those mutants scream._

 _"Whaaaat?" I reply nonchalantly_

 _"Mommy told us to make sure that you were out of bed, but you are!" Vicci answered happily._

 _I chuckle at my little sister and her adorable logic._

 _"Sissyyyy"_

 _"Yes 'Roni?"_

 _"May we help you pack a bit?" Veronica asks shyly._

 _They're so cute. "Sure." I say with a warm smile_

 _Their small faces light up as they began tearing my room apart._

 _As they helped me pack up some of my boxes, I got a phone call._

 _I look at the caller ID. Shit._

 _"Hello?" I say as I answer the phone_

 _"Hey baby, what you doing?"_

 _"Oh I'm just, getting ready for the day. And yourself?"_

 _"Just thinking about you. Wanna hang?"_

 _Oh, fuck_

 _"Ugh, yeah sure. Give me thirty minutes?"_

 _"Yeh, sure. Thirty. Only, thirty."_

 _I shiver went down my spine from the sound of his voice._

 _I finish packing some of my books in boxes with my sisters before freshening up to meet up with Fernando. I run with my 5-year-old sisters down the stairs, grab breakfast and my skateboard before heading out the door to meet my boyfriend._

 _I take an easy stroll to his apartment while taking in The Bronx's atmosphere with the little time I have left. Before I knew it, I was in front of his apartment. With a shaky hand, I knock on the door. Just a few moments later, he opens the door. A big smile plastered on his face._

 _"Hey baby" Fernando said with a wide smile._

 _"Hey 'Nands" I reply with a small smile._

 _"Pffft, that stupid skateboard again?" he chuckled cynically._

 _"Broderick gave it to me— "_

 _"FUCK BROD— "he cut himself off as he tried to calm down. That made me almost shit my pants._

 _He steps aside to tell me to come inside. I do._

 _"So, how are you this boring ass Saturday?" Fernando asks._

 _"Oh, it's ugh, okay. And you?" I reply._

 _"Boring as fuck baby. You wanna make it more interesting?" he asked with a lustful smile._

 _I anxiously rub my arm. "I…I don't know Fernando"_

 _"Just once will make me happy, baby" he tried to coo._

 _"I'm just, not in the mood" I reply with a sigh._

 _"Baby c'mooon" he insists as he trails one of his fingers down my spine._

 _"Fernando…"_

 _"Skylar for fucks sake! Just let me!" he grabbed my arms and turned me around as he shook me._

 _"No!" I resist as I try and fidget out of his grip, but it was too strong._

 _Fernando tried to unbutton Skylar's jeans, but failed, when Skylar's fist met Fernando's jaw._

 _"Ahh! Bitch! What the fuck?!"_

 _He pinned her down to the floor, but failed once again when Skylar's knee met his groin. Fernando cried in pain from the direct blow and crawled into a ball. Skylar then took the chance to kick me again in the groin, ribcage and shin. She grabbed her skateboard and wacked him with it, before running outside and riding it down the street._

 _Tears streamed down my pale cheeks as I rode my way back to my place of sanctuary. I stopped my board the moment I saw the park. Tears still staining my face, I walk to the place on the grass is sat on the first day I came here. I sat there, thinking, crying._

 _"Skye?" his beautiful voice called out._

 _I pause with my crying to hearing his voice. I turn my head to see where it came from. When I saw his worried face, I cried even more._

 _"Skye? Fluffs, what happened?" Broderick asked gently before sitting down next to me. I kept on crying. He put me in his lap and hugged me as I cried, "Shhh, it's okay Fluffs."_

 _After my tear storm calmed down, Broderick cradled me in his arms, not letting go. After a moment, he finally asked. "What is Fernando?" I nodded while my head was on his shoulder. He just held me tighter until I was completely calm._

 _"He tried to rape me." I stated._

 _This caused Broderick to whip his head around, looking at me in complete distraught. "D-did he get far?" he asked nervously._

 _I shook my head. "He just unbuttoned my jeans. Your boxing and self-defence classes helped me a lot" she said with a sad smile._

 _He sighed in relief before hugging me again. "Thank God. I would have never forgiven myself."_

 _"But you didn't do anything. I was dumb enough to go to his apartment." I reassured my friend._

 _"Don't ever date college boys AGAIN! And don't fall for Hispanic accents again! Okay?"_

 _I chuckled at my friend's humour. "I promise" I say sincerely._

 _"You'll probably fall for another idiot when you move to Woodcrest." He stated._

 _"That's a lie!" I say, a bit offended._

 _Broderick rolled his eyes before laughing. I laughed with him. Then it dawned on me, I'm not going to see Broderick often anymore. This caused for me to frown._

 _"What now Fluffs?" he asked as he saw the frown on my face._

 _"I, won't be seeing you for a while." I clarified sadly._

 _He gave me a sad smile, "Fluffs, don't worry, I'll see you around when you visit yo' family here, remembers?"_

 _I smile and nod my head. "…Ricky?" I call, as I stare at my gorgeous friend._

 _"Thanks, for everything. Thank you for toughening me up. Thanks for the board, thanks for the memories, thanks for the hoodie, and thanks for being my friend. I, I love you."_

 _He flashed his gorgeous smile before saying "I love you too Skylar."_

 _I gazed into my friend's beautiful chocolate eyes. He gazed into my green ones. My heart rate increased, and my palms got sweaty. I've never felt like this before. I stared at his soft lips, and before I could react, I was moving to them._

 _"Skye…" he said as he realised where I was looking. "…no."_

 _Huh?_

 _"Skylar, oh trust me, I really, REALLY want to. But I'm not going to kiss the girl I love two days before she moves away from me. Go to Maryland, be with your cousin's family, make good friends, and hopefully find a love interest. As much as I want to cuff you, ugh, good god I want to, I won't. I won't do that to myself, or you. You get?" he said as he caressed my cheek with his big soft hand._

 _I smiled lovingly and replied "Okay."_

 _"That's dope" he said before kissing my forehead._

 _We stood up and walked back to my home while holding hands. "You gonna sleep over tonight and help me pack?" I asked genuinely._

 _"Sure, let me tell Ma that I'm hanging with you." He said as he got out his phone._

 _"Tell Aunt Charlie I say hi" I requested. He smiled and nodded his head before dialling his mother._

 _After getting off the phone with his mom, a looked up and smiled. I lift my head to see the fuss. I smile as well. The clouds._

 _"How beautiful?" I asked in awe._

 _"Yeah, like you" he replied wholeheartedly. I blush and roll my eyes at his little pun. "I was so confused with your name at first. Skylar? Like Sky? The clouds? And well, I looked up at the blue sky and looked at the fluffy clouds. And that's when I started calling you Fluffs."_

 _I smiled and blush at the cute memory._

 _"Remember, the sky is NOT your limit, okay?" he told me reassuringly._

 _I nod my head and squeeze his arm tighter. "C'mon, let's hurry. I bet Vic and 'Roni miss you."_

 _"Ahh! Those mutants! I owe them a movie night with Barbie"_

* * *

 **At Woodcrest Estate...**

I ride my board back to Woodcrest Estates and plant my board by the foyer.

"Skye, that you?" I hear Cindy call.

"Yeah, wassup?" I respond.

"Come up here! I'm by the balcony!" she requests.

I walk up the stairs to the private lounge where the balcony is to see Cindy gazing off on it.

"'Sup?" I ask my cousin.

"Look at the sky!"

Huh?

I walk and stand next to my cousin and look up. I see clouds, everywhere, and in cute little shapes.

"How cute? I mean, even I gotta say those clouds are so cute! Look how fluffy they look!"

"Yeah…fluffy…" I utter under my breath

"Skye, you a'ight?" Cindy asks concerned.

"Huh? Yeah man no worries! Just in my thoughts."

"Hehe, your head is in the clouds, Skye! Haha!... get it?"

"Cindy shut your dumbass up!" I say while laughing.

We share a good laugh as we relaxed on the balcony…

Looking at the Skye…

* * *

Author's Note: That last line was on purpose ;) LOL! And there you have it! Thanks for reading this chapter guys, it means a lot. As said earlier, I'll try update every month! If yal are fans of my other story, **Blueprint** , stay tuned! Halla at yo' girl! - Elle


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